Portugal players ‘don’t trust Cristiano Ronaldo and didn’t want to pass the ball to him’, says ex-England star
PORTUGAL stars don’t seem to “trust” Cristiano Ronaldo, claims England icon Stuart Pearce.
The former Manchester United forward, 39, played the full 90 minutes as his country beat the Czech Republic 2-1 last night.
Ronaldo failed to get on the scoresheet in Leipzig, with Portugal netting via an own goal and a late Francisco Conceicao strike.
At half-time, Pearce suggested that the veteran forward didn’t appear to be on the same wavelength as his team-mates.
Appearing on talkSPORT, he said: “This might sound ridiculous, but [maybe] they don’t trust Ronaldo enough to keep supplying him with the ball, that type of thing.”
When asked by presenter Adrian Durham to clarify his point, Pearce, 62, added: “There’s been times in the games where he’s shown to feet and they’ve not popped the ball into his feet.
“There was one with Bernardo Silva, it was one of these rogue passes [by Czech Republic] that got cut out.
“Bernardo Silva had it in the centre circle, Ronaldo peeled off in an inside-right position.
“I’m thinking, ‘If this was ten years ago, you slide it in front of him and you know full well he’s going to get there and score.’
“He [Silva] denied the pass, and I found that quite strange.”
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After the game, Ronaldo caught some flak from several fans online for the way he celebrated Portugal’s stoppage time winner.
As he wheeled away to congratulate Conceicao, Ronaldo appeared to fist pump in goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek’s face, before seemingly shouting at a despondent defender.
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His former Man Utd team-mate Bruno Fernandes has stressed Ronaldo’s importance to Portugal.
He said: ” We all know that it is important to have experienced players, like Cristiano Ronaldo.
“In fact, Pepe is probably the most experienced in the entire tournament. We know they are vital to us.”
Cesc Fabregas, meanwhile, said while appearing as a pundit on the BBC: “Whatever you do, if Ronaldo plays well or the team plays well, he always finds a chance.
“He takes care of himself to another level. He needs just one little moment of space to create a chance.
“His overall play has been much better than the last couple of years.”
Portugal will return to action on Saturday, when they take on Turkey in Dortmund.