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Portugal have got themselves into a huge dilemma recently. They recently fielded a team without their talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, against Luxembourg and won 9-0. This win also guaranteed the 2016 European champions a spot in next year's European championships. In 2021, they lost to Belgium in the pre-quarterfinals.
The 9-0 win over Luxembourg without Ronaldo has created a question in everyone's mind. Are Portugal a better team without their talisman? This question seems ridiculous because Ronaldo is the international team's captain and the greatest scorer in international football. Regardless of what circumstances you are in, you will never refuse the idea of having the top scorer in international history on your team.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez jumped to Ronaldo's defense when asked the same question. He said, “No. Cristiano is a very important element of this team; Ronaldo has experience and a way of his own. We don't need to cause controversy. Ronaldo, as well as Pepe. They have an infectious way of working and give our team important value.”
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Martinez created a highly-scoring Belgium side previously. In that side, Romelu Lukaku was made a similar type of scapegoat. However, Lukaku and Ronaldo are different footballers altogether.
Ronaldo's place in the Portugal side has been under a question mark basically since last year's World Cup. The Portuguese international was dropped in the Round of 16 clash against Switzerland, and the former European giants ran out 6-1 victors. More importantly, Ronaldo's replacement, Goncalo Ramos, scored his first international hat-trick that day. However, this decision came to haunt the European champions as they lost 1-0 to Morocco in the quarter-finals. Ronaldo came on in the second half that night but couldn't find an equalizer.
