Fifa World Cup: Ronaldo out to impress in Portugal's opening game
Agencies | Doha
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Cristiano Ronaldo is in the shop window as he starts his fifth (and probably final) World Cup with Portugal.
As of late Tuesday, the 37-year-old forward was without a club after Manchester United cancelled his contract as a result of his explosive interview criticising manager Erik ten Hag, the club’s owners and many of his United teammates.
Speaking before the announcement that he had left United by mutual consent, he was adamant that club matters would not impact his displays for Portugal at the World Cup and were not disrupting the atmosphere in the squad heading into Thursday's group game against Ghana at Doha's Stadium 974.
That might need revisiting now. The motivation of winning the World Cup for the first time is likely driving Ronaldo enough in Qatar, but impressing a potential new club would be a nice bonus to go alongside it.
“Nothing will shake this squad,” Ronaldo said at a news conference in Doha this week.
A loss to Ghana might.
The African nation is the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup — at No 61 — and is the big underdog in a group containing Uruguay and South Korea as well.
Still, Saudi Arabia showed that anything is possible at this tournament by beating Lionel Messi's Argentina against all odds on Tuesday, and Ghana has previously come within a handball by Luis Suarez of playing in a World Cup semifinal — in 2010.
The Blacks Stars also have some players in form, such as Thomas Partey — the midfield anchorman of Premier League leader Arsenal — and Mohammed Kudus, who has been scoring freely for Ajax in the Champions League this season.
Portugal will start as the favourite, with coach Fernando Santos having much depth in attack, midfield and at full back, as well as the experience of leading the national team to the European Championship title in 2016.
Concerns persist over whether Santos is too pragmatic, given the talent at his disposal but he remains a popular choice as coach eight years after being hired.
Santos has shown he isn't afraid to make tough decisions by leaving Ronaldo out of a starting team in a Nations League game against Iberian rival Spain in June for “tactical reasons".
Doing so again for the first match of a World Cup is highly unlikely, even if Ronaldo's head might be scrambled given the turbulence in his club career over the past week.
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