It's easy to understand why Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys being interviewed by Piers Morgan. There aren't really any questions, just compliments – and who wouldn't like having their ego massaged for an hour at a time? Morgan also provides the Portuguese with a platform to promote his products. In last week's sycophantic sit-down, for example, the journalist claimed that people tell him that he smells like Ronaldo because he wears his idol's aftershave. Truth be told, though, Morgan spends so much time kissing the Ballon d'Or winner's backside that it would actually be surprising if he smelled like anyone else.
It's nonetheless odd that Ronaldo, at 40 years old, still feels compelled to essentially employ Morgan – of all people – to big up a career full of fantastic feats. His record-breaking numbers should speak for themselves.
However, the strangest thing about the latest episode of their full-blown bromance was Ronaldo's attempt to downplay the importance of the World Cup. "If you ask me, 'Cristiano, is it a dream to win the World Cup?'" Ronaldo asked himself, rather fittingly. "No, it's not a dream."
It clearly is, though. And we can say that with such certainty because Ronaldo has said so himself several times, most memorably after the dream "ended" in nightmare circumstances at Qatar 2022.
Getty Images Sport'Most ambitious dream' dies
The tears began to flow down Ronaldo's cheeks as soon as the full-time whistle blew at the Al Thumama Stadium stadium in Doha on the night of December 10, 2022. The Portugal captain was so upset that he couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge the Seleccao's supporters. The pain was too great. So great, in fact, that he wasn't able to address his country's shock quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco until the following day – and even then only in a social media post.
"To win a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career," he wrote on Instagram. "In my five appearances at World Cups over 16 years, always playing alongside great players and supported by millions of Portuguese, I have given my all. I left everything I had on the pitch. I'll never shrink from a battle and I have never given up on that dream. Unfortunately, that dream ended yesterday." And not in a way that Ronaldo could palate.
He had arrived in Qatar characteristically confident of not only silencing his critics after a shamefully shambolic end to his second spell at Manchester United, but also winning the one trophy to have eluded him. However, he departed in much the same manner as his Old Trafford exit, with his reputation tarnished by public displays of petulance and reports that he had privately threatened to leave the Portuguese camp after being dropped for the last-16 clash with Switzerland – which Fernando Santos' side won 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Ronaldo's replacement, Goncalo Ramos.
"I just want everybody to know that a lot has been said, a lot has been written, a lot has been speculated about, but my dedication to Portugal has never wavered for an instant," Ronaldo wrote in his social media post. "I was always just one more player fighting for everyone's goal and I would never turn my back on my team-mates and my country."
"For now," he added, "there's not much more to say. Thank you, Portugal. Thank you, Qatar. The dream was beautiful while it lasted… Now, we have to let time be a good adviser and allow everyone to draw their own conclusions."
The Portuguese Football Federation (PFF), for their part, concluded that it was "the right moment to start a new cycle" with a new coach – but there was to be no new captain.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Terrible coach'
Roberto Martinez represented a bizarre choice to succeed Santos, given the Spaniard was best known for failing to win a major trophy with Belgian's 'Golden Generation'.
"Anyone who says Martinez is a good coach doesn’t understand football," former Red Devils midfielder Radja Nainggolan told content creator Junior Vertongen on . "A good coach gives a team an idea. We never had that with him. We had no patterns or running lines. We relied on moments. Maybe [Nacer] Chadli would do something, or [Axel] Witsel would send in a corner for [Marouane] Fellaini. That was our football. [Kevin] De Bruyne was told to play right forward when he wanted to be in midfield. He still did it because that’s what the coach asked.
"And it's not about me being bitter. When I was seventh-choice under [Antonio] Conte [at Inter], I accepted it. I respected him because he's a top coach. Some managers you respect even if you don’t play; others you know aren’t up to the job. I've had coaches I played for, and I'd say, 'That was a terrible coach.' Martinez is one of those. When things got hard, it was always the same: give the ball to [Eden] Hazard or De Bruyne and hope they sort it out. That was the plan."
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Martinez has employed a similarly simplistic strategy with Portugal: Get the ball in the box for Ronaldo.
Getty Images SportMeltdown in Frankfurt
Santos' undeniably negative tactics, coupled with the calamitous nature of the 2022 World Cup campaign, offered Martinez a glorious opportunity to build an exciting new side around Portugal's plethora of potential superstars. He didn't take it, though.
In his first significant act as the Seleccao's coach, he instead elected to fly to Saudi Arabia to convince Ronaldo to lead Portugal towards – and into – Euro 2024. It proved a predictably disastrous decision. Ronaldo scored freely during qualifying but didn't find the back of the net once in Germany. Worse still, his attempts to break his duck became as counter-productive as they were embarrassing.
It was clear that Ronaldo needed to be taken out of the firing line, but Martinez even refused to drop the misfiring forward for Portugal's final, meaningless group game, effectively prioritising the indulgence of an individual over the good of the group. Consequently, the pressure on the captain only intensified after another goal-less outing in a humiliating 2-0 loss to Georgia – and it eventually became even too much for Ronaldo to bear after missing a penalty in the last-16 showdown with Slovenia.
At half-time in extra-time in Frankfurt, one of the finest players in football history broke down. It was a staggering sight. A living legend had become a liability. After years spent heroically carrying his team-mates, they were now carrying him – and he knew it.
It was, thus, difficult not to feel some degree of sympathy for the struggling striker – followed by admiration for him even stepping up to take the first spot-kick in the shootout, let alone converting it.
Getty Images SportGamble pays off
Martinez has long been a master of misdirection, a coach that always talks a great game, even after a poor performance, so it was inevitable that he would focus on Ronaldo's commendable courage in his post-match press conference, rather than the horror-show that preceded it – and his role in it.
What was even less surprising was that he would stick to his blatantly flawed game plan in the quarter-final clash with France, with Ronaldo once again tasked with leading the line. Doing the same thing over and over again obviously failed to yield a different result and Portugal were eliminated on penalties by a dreadfully ineffective France side, after their toiling talisman had drawn yet another blank.
At that point, the wisdom of persisting with both Martinez and Ronaldo became the subject of a national debate. As one memorable headline implored, "More Portugal, less Ronaldo!" Even during the Seleccao's impressive run of results in the 2024-25 Nations League, there were rumours that the FPF's newly elected president, Pedro Proenca, was leaning towards sacking Martinez after the finals in Germany and replacing him with Jose Mourinho.
Ronaldo was unsurprisingly annoyed by the constant speculation surrounding the Spaniard, who was effectively responsible for prolonging his international career. "Questioning someone who has a spectacular record for Portugal confuses me," he said just before the Nations League final against Spain. "There has been a bit of a lack of respect in this regard. Talking about other coaches does not make sense either. The coach has done an extraordinary job.
"Even when you win, there is this debate, but it is part of the parrots who are at home and give their opinion. What we have to say is that we are very happy with the work that the coach has done, because arriving with a different nationality, speaking our language, singing our anthem with a passion that I see, that is what I value most. The rest doesn't matter at all. The results are very positive, regardless of whether we win or not. There will always be debate, but, for me, it makes no sense at all."
After defending Martinez off the field, Ronaldo then rescued him on it. He netted the winner in the Nations League semi-final win over Germany before striking again in the tournament-decider against Spain, which Portugal won on penalties. Basically, Martinez had risked his job (and what was left of his reputation) on Ronaldo – and the gamble belatedly paid off.
