Why Portugal's selection of Cristiano Ronaldo for this World Cup has been a mistake

[p]The match brings together two elder statesmen of the game, and two former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] teammates in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Cristiano Ronaldo[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/modric-luka/bZWyoJnA/"]Luka Modric[/a].[/p][p]Both players are now in their 40s (41 and 40, respectively), and their place in the history books of their respective countries isn't in doubt.[/p][p]However, one should pose the question as to what sort of influence a player of such an age, with respect, can have on a team, other than passing on a wealth of experience.[/p][embed guid="384e92d9-f48d-4a9f-bb7f-4cd943922d83" url="https://x.com/selecaoportugal/status/2071419718922051952" social-type="twitter" /][p]Ronaldo was never going to miss the tournament, particularly given that it might well be his final World Cup. [/p][p]It's entirely possible he could stay fit enough to play in the next one, but many would consider having a then 45-year-old Ronaldo in the squad in place of a much younger and fresher player to be counterproductive.[/p][p]Is there even an argument that this is exactly the case at this point in time?[/p][h2]One attempt on target against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a][/h2][p]In the last group game against Colombia, a lively 0-0 draw, he did have three shots in the game, which were the joint most from a Portuguese point of view with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joao-felix/KI3YXMhi/"]Joao Felix[/a], though only one was on target.[/p][image alt="Cristiano Ronaldo's heat map v Colombia" id="72924c7f-7caf-4b17-9a7f-1d5e8ff2e97d" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="955be044-6a44-4e48-9653-1f8741ed71f7" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Just two touches in the Colombian box, one of which was his off-target effort, arguably isn't good enough at this level, and when you consider that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-luis/SKjMUHVm/"]Luis Diaz[/a] had seven touches in the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portugal/WvJrjFVN/"]Portugal[/a] box, whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arias-jhon/YNxvrQqS/"]Jhon Arias[/a] had six, it rather hammers home the point.[/p][p]Of course, one could argue that Colombia didn't score either, so it doesn't really matter how many touches a player had. What it does evidence, though, is the work rate and intention of those players, ergo their influence as a whole.[/p][h2]Poor passing and dribbling[/h2][p]If we look at his distribution in that game, too, at 81.5%, it was the worst on show in the Portugal team.[/p][p]Though others in the team didn't have as many total touches (35) or accurate passes (22), they did have a significantly higher pass completion. [/p][embed guid="34c514b9-7c8e-4e59-9dfd-537d40988d47" url="https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2071051488294801536" social-type="twitter" /][p]More generally, and perhaps more damning for Ronaldo, is the fact that he had no dribbles, successful or otherwise, in the game, nor did he attempt any aerial duels.[/p][p]Both areas have long been his bread and butter, so that surely must be a concern for Roberto Martinez with the Selecao das Quinas hoping to go deep into the latter stages of the tournament.[/p][p]From a more defensive point of view, no tackles attempted or interceptions made could be another stick to beat him with, but that's never really been Ronaldo's natural game in any event.[/p][h2]A mixed bag against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uzbekistan/EZYKKRMc/"]Uzbekistan[/a][/h2][p]In the previous match against Uzbekistan, the talisman was the star of the show with two goals, as Portugal romped to a 5-0 win.[/p][p]The difference in attacking numbers from the Colombia game is incredible, when you firstly consider that Ronaldo had seven shots, five of which were on target, 10 touches in the opposition box and five big chances in the game.[/p][embed guid="f80e2bea-c7cd-4947-bd4a-31424b1f49c9" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2069467321572172215" social-type="twitter" /][p]However, the other parts of his game were still sorely lacking.[/p][p]His pass completion was again the worst for his team at just 68.4%, and just 13 accurate passes were made by him all game.[/p][p]One dribble, which wasn't successful, and possession won back just once - the worst in the team, along with goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diogo-costa/hC31Ab0c/"]Diogo Costa[/a] - won't help to paper over any cracks either.[/p][p]A solitary tackle won when put in perspective - no other Portugal player attempted more than two - is a passable statistic.[/p][embed guid="a28661c2-1f06-4362-ab8e-af18664ed926" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2069503539433414969" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Issues from the opening game[/h2][p]Portugal's opener was against DR Congo, and a draw against one of the outsiders in the tournament clearly wasn't the best way for the Europeans to begin their campaign.[/p][p]Ronaldo's three attempts were the most from any Portuguese player, though none were on target. Five touches in the DR Congo box were the second-best showing behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mendes-nuno/ne2xCTJj/"]Nuno Mendes[/a] (six).[/p][p]90.5% pass completion to begin his World Cup was clearly a great way to start, and despite another game without a dribble attempted, Ronaldo did at least involve himself in some ground duels, two of which he won from three attempted, and aerial duels, again winning two from three.[/p][image alt="Portugal's shot chart against DR Congo" id="b76cabd4-13d7-4aec-be2c-fc4b7d911c99" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="6c55bd77-170d-48a2-80d4-4d5b3cf746b2" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Defensively though, he was the only Portuguese player on the night to not attempt a tackle, win a foul or make a clearance, and that's important.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a], whilst having an ageing side, has players - like Modric - who will go to hell and back, figuratively speaking, to win the game for their side.[/p][p]That's the type of work ethic that Ronaldo simply doesn't have, or at least hasn't shown in this World Cup, and if he and Portugal want to still harbour dreams of success, he has to do a lot more than just show up and puff out his chest.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]