Cristiano Ronaldo began his fifth World Cup with a 3-1 win over Ghana. He had a poor performance up until he won his side a penalty and opened the goal-scoring in the game. He was taken off soon and Portugal won convincingly in the end. Ronaldo has always had critics throughout his career, but this is the first time Ronaldo has come out against them so vocally.
📈 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 📈 𝗩𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗦 📈
Nada como entrar a vencer no #FIFAWorldCup! 💪 #VesteABandeira #WearTheFlag pic.twitter.com/RCh7WnY66a
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) November 24, 2022
While we have seen Ronaldo react to criticism in the past, his current form merits some criticism. The reasons for his poor performances at Manchester United may be valid, but Portugal will require his talent if they are to win this World Cup.
Why is Cristiano Ronaldo getting Criticized?
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first season at Manchester United was a dream return. Despite the fact United failed to win any trophies, it was individually a very good season for the Portuguese. Despite this, Ronaldo received unfair criticism for United’s haphazard pressing, something teams do together as a unit and are the manager’s responsibility.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Wayne Rooney 🤯 pic.twitter.com/RgdzM3yAUw
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) November 13, 2022
This season, on the other hand, Ronaldo’s performances have been poor. He has not received the same chances as he did last season. But even in his limited performances, he has not shown any reason to start ahead of other players. His interview with Piers Morgan earned him no favors either. Many Manchester United fans and the football pundits he called out turned against him.
Fernandes does not want Ronaldo’s critics to stop
Bruno Fernandes has been Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate for a few years now. It is safe to say he knows how his ex-Manchester United teammate would function. He would also know how managers have been able to get the best out of him. Fernandes said to the media, “I think he likes to work under that criticism from everyone, so I pray all of you to keep doing that because he gets the best of himself when you guys do that.”
Bruno Fernandes hopes there will be more criticism of Cristiano Ronaldo because it gets the best out of him 👀 pic.twitter.com/jOvwc2LZny
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 25, 2022
Ronaldo had called out pundits like Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney in his interview, who have not stopped their assessments of Ronaldo, fair or not. On the other hand, we have seen Ronaldo say Roy Keane was the best captain he had played under, and not seen any criticism at all from the ex-Irish footballer. Portugal next faces Uruguay on 28th November.
