For two short moments he was completely his old self again. In the 51st minute, Cristiano Ronaldo confidently converted a penalty into the left corner. In the 63rd minute he made it 4-0 against Liechtenstein with a dry free kick. Both times the entire arena in Lisbon cheered for him, both times Portugal’s veteran star showed relief on his face.
“It’s such a good feeling to play for our Seleção again and score goals,” wrote the 38-year-old on Instagram after the European Championship qualifier. He also set a world record that Thursday evening. 197 caps are now Ronaldo’s tally – no player in the world has ever featured more for a national team. He was “proud of that,” continued the superstar from the Saudi club Al Nassr. So everything as usual? No.
Because apart from his two standard goals, the attacker hardly appeared against the blatant outsider. The veteran can still provide added value to his team. But his role is changing. New coach Roberto Martínez substituted him in the 78th minute, and Ronaldo accepted the decision without hesitation. Gonçalo Ramos came into play, the 21-year-old had already taken his previously undisputed regular place from Ronaldo at the World Cup in Qatar.
Only in the coming weeks and months will we see how Ronaldo deals with his new status. Martínez has made no secret of the fact that he continues to rely on him and his great experience. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Spaniard let him out in the next game in Luxembourg on Sunday – and let Ramos attack from the start. It remains to be seen how Ronaldo would then behave.
