Roberto Martinez has refused to bow to pressure and will keep faith with Cristiano Ronaldo when Portugal take on Uzbekistan in a crucial World Cup showdown. The debate has been raging inside and outside the Portuguese camp since Ronaldo's woeful performance in the opening draw with DR Congo.
Martinez Stands Firm Amid Calls to Drop Ronaldo
Martinez has faced constant calls to axe his captain and talisman in favour of recalling Goncalo Ramos. But Martinez is not prepared to ditch Portugal's favourite son and will give him one more chance to show he can still be a force to be reckoned with when the team return to the scene of the crime in Houston.
Portugal have closed ranks around Ronaldo. Martinez, Ruben Dias and Francisco Conceicao have all done what they can to play down talk of a crisis and of Ronaldo being the cause of it. While Portugal's biggest media outlet, Record, launched a staunch defence of Ronaldo, attacking his critics.
Villas-Boas Calls for Calm
Former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas, now president of Porto, called for calm and focus on the bigger goal beyond the result of one match. He said: "Ambitions are still boundless, because it's a golden generation. Because we also want the greatest talent in world football, the man who has given so much to Portugal, left clutching the World Cup trophy, just like Messi did in Qatar."
This sounds like a brave call, considering the current evidence. Ronaldo's lacklustre performance against Congo came within hours of Lionel Messi's stunning hat-trick for defending champions Argentina in their opening game.
Ronaldo's Actions Fuel Controversy
Ronaldo made things worse after skulking down the tunnel, leaving his team-mates to acknowledge Portugal fans in the Houston Stadium. His sister Katia Aveiro then fanned the flames by responding to the abuse aimed at her sibling with a frank takedown of the whole team’s performance. She also liked a social media post which accused Bruno Fernandes of failing to bring his Manchester United form to the national team.
This fuelled rumours Portugal were caught up in a civil war, with players privately turning against Ronaldo and each other while publicly insisting there were no deeper problems. Even the supporters seemed divided. Some pinned all or most of the blame on Ronaldo for the poor result, and accused team-mates of feeling under pressure to pass to him. Yet others said Portugal players were not trying to find Ronaldo enough.
Team Defends Ronaldo
A three-hour visit to the beach near the squad’s Florida base, in the build-up to the game, was transformed from plain old downtime into a sign the players were not focused on the task in hand. Dias challenged Portuguese journalists over that narrative. He also insisted Ronaldo and the rest of the players were used to dealing with criticism, and noise would not distract them.
Conceicao praised Ronaldo for the standards he continued to set and for his goalscoring ability, while dismissing the idea he ever passed to him just because of who he was, rather than because he was the team-mate best placed to receive the ball.
Henry Criticises Ronaldo
France legend Thierry Henry, meanwhile, was among those to accuse Ronaldo of playing for himself rather than the team. Now it all boils down to a date with minnows Uzbekistan, when Ronaldo will look to prove the doubters wrong, like he's done countless times before.
