Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville believes Portugal will be better without Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7 was benched in the big Round of 16 clash against Switzerland. Ronaldo had shown his frustration after he was substituted against South Korea in the team’s last group-stage match.
Ronaldo’s reaction didn’t please Portugal’s gaffer Fernando Santos and the striker was benched for the match against Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has been involved in a lot of controversies in the recent past and his contract was terminated by Manchester United after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, in which he criticized the club and manager Erik Ten Hag.
Gary Neville said as quoted by Sky Sports, “Portugal’s best performance of the tournament, the 6-1 win over Switzerland, was without him – and they looked much more mobile. João Felix and Bruno Fernandes really came alive. This reminds me of United – they are better when he is not in the team.”
“Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player I’ve ever seen, and despite what he may think, I love him to bits – he is unbelievable.”
Neville, who played with Ronaldo at Manchester United during the latter’s first stint, feels the striker’s attitude doesn’t leave a good influence on his teammates if he refuses to be part of the team.
“I worry about the influence he will have on other players when he refuses to be part of a team. Ronaldo is better than that. The biggest problem is that his managers at Portugal and Manchester United thought they were better without Ronaldo in the team, and he’s finding that difficult to come to terms with.”
On the other hand, Portugal’s midfielder Otavio revealed Ronaldo spoke with Ramos after he was benched and motivated the whole team before the all-important match against Switzerland, which Os Navegadores won by 6-1.
Otavio told the media, “You know the first thing Ronaldo did when he found out he wouldn’t start? He went to speak to Goncalo and the rest of the team to encourage them. He’s our leader.”
He added: “Cristiano said before, when you speak about him, you get on the front page. You never show the positives, only the negatives. You want to believe every negative story about him whilst anything positive is ‘fake’. But we are united.”
