Austria 0 Portugal 0
Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2016 is a force on the wane. At 31, this is understandable. Unlike England's 1966 World Cup triumph, a sonnet by Shakespeare or a burgundy grand cru, elite athletes do not age well.
Ronaldo’s spluttering stop-start display in this goalless draw with Austria was the latest evidence of this. As a presence, Ronaldo, with his matinee idol grin, Tarzan physique, remains le grand fromage. In contrast the modest demeanour and the-team-first ethos of Lionel Messi puts the man from Madeira in the shade. Messi remains the central figure in games because of his play rather than his reputation and sideshow antics. The Argentinian still demands the ball in all areas because the first thought is: “I can hurt the opposition from anywhere.” This was once the Ronaldo way but not any more. His is now the safer sentiment of: “My moment must be chosen carefully.”
Canter
Would a defence of Florian Klein, Sebastian Prodl, Lukas Hinteregger and Christian Fuchs really have stymied the Ronaldo when he was 21, 25, or 28? Because this is what Austria’s back four did on Saturday’s at a canter.Would Ronaldo drop deep from the number nine position in an attempt to pull the match round? No, he stayed in the same role for the full 90 minutes.
In his pomp, Ronaldo was never passive. He was a fearless bucking bronco of a forward who with ease and great delight tore through teams at will to ensure their challenge became one of mere damage limitation.
In the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City and in the final against Atlético Madrid,Ronaldo was peripheral. Until the final went to penalties. For the decisive kick up stepped Ronaldo to give Jan Oblak no chance with a bullet that beat Atlético’s goalkeeper to his left. Yet when Ronaldo did become a factor against Austria to win Portugal an 80th-minute penalty, converting this one proved beyond him.
Now was the time for the number seven to mark his record 128th cap by grabbing the glory . But the manner in which the effort came off Robert Almer’s right post was a neat precis of where Ronaldo now is: still a riveting watch but not the universe beater of days of yore.
Mistake
Fernando Santos, as all good coaches do, is backing him to bounce back instantly. “If there is a penalty in the next game, Cristiano Ronaldo will take it and he will score,” he said. “He is used to scoring goals, he is a winner and he also reacts well when he makes a mistake.”
After the match Ronaldo said of his appearance record: “It’s a reason to be proud. It was a goal to be the most capped international player and to be the national team’s top scorer. But I’m a bit sad because this wasn’t the way I wanted to break this record. We wanted to win. This was not how I envisaged it.”
Portugal’s record after two matches here is no wins, one goal, two draws and two points, as they head to Lyon on Wednesday knowing a win over Hungary is a must.
“We, the players, need to think that it’s still possible,” Ronaldo added. “If we win, we qualify. And also the Portuguese people, the fans who love Portugal, they also have to believe. The bad won’t last for ever, so we need to believe that things will get better.” Guardian service
