By his standards, Cristiano Ronaldo has had a rather quiet tournament since becoming the first player to score a goal at five World Cups, when he converted that penalty in Portugal’s opener against Ghana.
In a tournament where Kylian Mbappe is dominating with his speedy moves and bulging the opposition net with pile-drivers, and Lionel Messi is making his presence felt with his assists and pinpoint accurate left-footers, Ronaldo has nothing much to show for except that successful penalty conversion.
Portugal do need Ronaldo to be at his best in Tuesday’s Round-of-16 clash vs Switzerland at the Lusail Stadium.
Portugal won their first two group-phase games to advance and little should be read into the loss to South Korea, given coach Fernando Santos rotated heavily in that game though Ronaldo had started for the third straight time. He will be playing for the fourth time in 13 days and that’s quite a workload these days for Ronaldo, whose game time has been managed for the past year and a half at Manchester United.
The other Ronaldo subplot is that he’s still trying to convince potential suitors that having left United, he is worth investing in when the World Cup is over. Reports have linked him to a move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr but no deal has yet been signed.
Portugal, though, will be welcoming back their leading players rested against South Korea, like Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias. Joao Felix should also return up front to play alongside Ronaldo, whose tally of international goals stands at 118.
Santos must decide whether to play Raphael Guerreiro as left-back and get Joao Cancelo to the right-back position. Or accommodate Diogo Dalot at right-back.
Key midfielder Otavio is ready to play against the Swiss. Pepe, the 39-year-old defender, is likely to keep his place and be tasked with marking Swiss striker Breel Embolo, who has scored twice in the tournament.
Portugal had beaten Switzerland 4-0 back in June at the Nations League, but midfielder William Carvalho says his side will be laser-focused on the details on Tuesday for a place in the quarter-final.
“There have been surprises at this World Cup. That’s a fact, so we need to be focused from the first minute to the last,” Carvalho said.
Written with AP/PTI, Reuters inputs