The emotions that Cristiano Ronaldo spilled as he raised the Saudi League Cup into the skies, for the first time in his three seasons at Al-Nassr, showed that his passion to win every little battle of his life remains undiminished. As much as the moments and glory, titles and honours, Ronaldo’s defining spirit is the hubristic obsession to win everything he possibly could, even if that’s just a duel with a defender. Only one big dream remains unfulfilled, perhaps the only dream that really matters for him any longer. To lift the World Cup; to find the missing piece, to seal his apotheosis.
The run to the league triumph was agonising, replete with stumbles, near misses, the fate eased by rivals faltering in the home stretch and accusations of favourable refereeing. The route to World Cup glory would be tougher. Not only because the adversaries would be sterner, but also because he would no longer be his country’s lead act. He remains Portugal’s talisman and inspiration, but he is no longer the centre of his team’s universe, rather one among their highly gifted batch — title contenders by the sheer quality and depth they possess.
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The fulfilment of Ronaldo’s ultimate and elusive dreams depends on how deeply he reconciles with this truth, that he remains one of the cogs that make the machine work smoothly and not the machine itself. That he needs, at times, to bite the ego and show no displeasure when being substituted, that against some teams he wouldn’t start, that he is the oldest and slowest individual in a team that dazzles with athleticism as much as technical robustness, that there would be time he needs to sequester into the shadows for his team to fully function.
But the truth remains that even at 41, he is not a baggage for Portugal. He would not be an excess or indulgence for most countries either, unlike for elite clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, where the weekly grind could be relentless at his age. But he is still arguably among the best finishers in the world; the impulse and instincts remain unstained by time; the movements are still quick and precise; he sniffs goals, finds space and goal-ward paths, leaps higher than his markers, and bulldozes through defensive mazes.
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In five World Cup qualifying games, he netted as many goals. He was the second highest goalscorer (8) in last edition’s Nations League that Portugal won. He scored the winner against Germany in the semifinal and equalised against Spain in the final. He would perceptibly harm the side with his lack of pressing, but would compensate with goals.
The Saudi league is not entirely bereft of quality either; their quality would not be inferior to some of the teams that Portugal could face until the quarterfinals — Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia in the group stage, a third-place finisher in the round of 32 (if they top the group) and Canada or Bosnia in the round of 16.
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Tournament football would be the best realm for Ronaldo to flourish. Portugal coach Roberto Martinez reiterated it: “In a World Cup, you don’t follow a pattern that fits the club, the age, none of that. Everyone is focused and we have to manage the day-to-day well, that’s all.”
Ronaldo is managing himself really well.
Besides, Portugal has ample creative forces to feed him. PSG’s Vitinha is arguably the world’s finest midfielder, an exceptional recycler of the ball, intelligent and industrious, breaks the lines with a wide range of passes, play-makes as well as disrupts. Bruno Fernandes arrives after a record haul of assists in the Premier League. João Neves and Bernardo Silva are immaculate creators themselves. Nuno Mendes and Joao Cancelo are two of the world’s best full-backs.
In Martinez, Ronaldo has a coach that fully trusts him, but at the same time not unabashed to sub him when necessary. Post the 2024 Euro catastrophe, there was clamour to overlook Ronaldo. But Martinez did not sway to the external pressure or the endless voices around him. “The biggest error people make is not analysing him today. After the Euros it was: ‘Portugal didn’t win because Cristiano’s playing.’ We win the Nations League and it’s: ‘What will Portugal do when Ronaldo retires?’” he told The Guardian.
These are words that Ronaldo was yearning to hear after his horrible World Cup and Euro. Winning the World Cup would be more difficult than ending the Saudi league drought. But Ronaldo will put his life on the line to win the treasure that has eluded him.
