Facts first – Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best football players ever. Period.The Portuguese star has won absolutely everything except for the FIFA World Cup. He’s got countless Ballon d’Or’s, he set numerous goal-scoring records across the globe, he won the Champions League on several occasions, he was the English Premier League, La Liga and Serie A player of the season, he won dozens of domestic titles and cups in those countries, he won the European Championship with Portugal back in 2016, he set the bar so high that only Lionel Messi could get near those levels (or maybe even pass them, some would say) of all the players in the world in the last 20 years. Christ’s sake, he’s almost 40 and still not giving up on reaching new milestones and clinching accolades.You name it – he’s done it or is still trying to do it.Forget about Ronaldo, Costa is Portugal’s hero!But… just like the undeniable facts mentioned above, it’s essential that we acknowledge another phenomenon regarding CR7. His personality, his ego, which has taken him to the highest heights possible, that keeps driving him despite the age and all odds – that superpower of his that distinguishes him from all the others – is just what’s about to kill the man.And he’s taking that Portugal side down with him.##NAJAVA_MECA_8192887##The ongoing European Championship has proved that Ronaldo is definitely on the wrong track. He maybe still hasn’t lost the pace nor the desire, but it’s blatantly clear those shots are not as accurate as they used to be, nor the timing of those headers, nor… He’s there, but that tiny little part is always missing, and it makes all the difference.And it’s nothing up until now that deserves criticism because even Cristiano is just a human being. Our flaws are also part of who we are, just like virtues, and this guy has got tons of those worth nothing but praise.However, the mentioned ego is taking its toll in front of millions of us, as he obviously can’t get his head around the fact that this game is not only about him, nor should it be.Cristiano Ronaldo is 0-33 in his EURO career on direct free kick attempts.He’s 0-4 today 😬 pic.twitter.com/AJPT2Xbenl— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 1, 2024 Portugal are suffering because of Cristiano, who seems like a kid at a playground who wants all the toys just for himself. Instead of dedicating his extraordinary skills and knowledge to the team for the greater cause, he turned things upside down. It seems as if they’re playing for Ronaldo and not for Portugal.He shoots penalties and misses (we saw what Oblak did to him in the extra time last night). He shoots free kicks and misses (maybe that Messi shirt on the terraces disturbed him while aiming). He gets the ball in the danger area more often than his teammates jointly and misses.Now I see what Ronaldo was aiming at….. pic.twitter.com/c9ZUhOjU9v— Castro1021 (@Castro1021) July 1, 2024 And then, he collapses. He cries, he moans, he shakes his head in grief and disbelief, and all that in the middle of the game, like it’s the end of the world that he didn’t put his name on the scoreboard. Almost as if that is more important than the result itself.Of course, that sort of behaviour inevitably triggers all kinds of mockery, especially on social media, by both biased and non-biased people.Even the BBC went maybe a bit too far with that Misstiano Penaldo joke after Slovenia keeper Jan Oblak denied his penalty near the end of the first extra time.BBC putting “Misstiano Penaldo” as the graphic on his pen is EVIL work 😭 pic.twitter.com/efso4W36WL— Joe Gilmore (@Gilology) July 1, 2024 And it won’t stop there: Portugal are still in, and they’ll face France in the quarter-finals on Friday night. Portugal boss Roberto Martinez surely won’t bench his biggest star, and, quite frankly, probably doesn’t have the necessary authority to even try such a blasphemy. Still, it’s evident that the team suffers because of Cristiano’s ego and selfishness. Moreover, they have some fantastic players on the bench waiting for their deserved chance upfront, like Joao Felix, for instance, and it would be a shame to see them throwing it away just to make one man happy.Not all of those toys are his, and someone needs to sit down with him and tell him that. Until it’s too late for both.By: BOJAN BABIĆ
