da bet7： Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville have urged Cristiano Ronaldo to step away from international football after Euro 2024 debacle.
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Ronaldo told to step away from international footballDid not score any goal in Eurp 2024 Portugal crashed out after losing to France WHAT HAPPENED?
Ronaldo and Portugal's journey at Euro 2024 came to an end last Friday as they lost to France in the tie-breaker and crashed out of the quarter-final. For the first time in his illustrious career, the Al-Nassr star failed to score even once in a major competition.
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There have been speculations over the 39-year-old's future in international football and whether the European Championship in Germany was the legendary forward's last dance at the international arena. Now pundits and former players Keane, Wright and Neville have joined the bandwagon as they want the Portugal captain to take a step back from the national team.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID
Speaking on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special from Sky Bet, Wright first said, "Portugal should be very disappointed about that [going out of EURO 2024] simply because of how good their team is – when you look at them from defence to attack. The way he [Cristiano Ronaldo] played in EURO 2024, as great as he's been, surely Diogo Jota must be disappointed that he couldn't get on that pitch.
"What I saw of him [Cristiano Ronaldo], he can't cut it at this level now. As good as he is, as fit as he is, as driven as he is, you can see he just can't quite get it out of his feet to get a shot in, the movement with a header, he can't get past a defender now."
Keane then added, "He [Cristiano Ronaldo] should have a break and step back from international football, and if he's still playing at club level, then have a look at the World Cup when it comes around. We look at [Harry] Kane when Kane's quite off it, and your main goal scorers not at it, you're playing with ten men. When you're playing at the highest level, you really can't carry anybody. His [Cristiano Ronaldo] movement is still there – against France, brilliant.
"He [Cristiano Ronaldo] can carry on playing, but just not international football. How many footballers do we know that have stopped playing international football at a younger age and obviously carried on having a club career? Part of your decision-making [when you're coming to the end of your career] is to step back to let other players learn. You could be holding people back and that's not good for the bigger picture [of the team]."
Neville then concluded the discussion by saying, "This dynamic of unbelievable desire, self-fight, determination – all those things that you love about him [Cristiano Ronaldo] – how overbearing is it for the rest of the players and the manager and the country? There are two things – one, the player sometimes knows when to let it go, but there are some players who don't and need telling but there is an element of who tells him [Cristiano Ronaldo].
"I don't think he's [Cristiano Ronaldo] got it in him. At the end of the day, I'm not saying that if they [Portugal] had played with Diogo Jota they would have done better at this tournament or not do better, but that overbearing nature of his presence is huge – it was at [Manchester] United at the end."
getty imagesWHAT NEXT FOR CRISTIANO RONALDO?
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar is currently on holiday with his family before he returns to Saudi Arabia to prepare for the 2024/25 Saudi Pro League season.