in Ronaldo’s shadow: Portugal’s national team faces the dilemma of ‘Ronaldo dependency’

cristiano Ronaldo is still scoring goals at the age of 40. he’s undoubtedly a living legend in soccer history, having led the Portuguese national team’s offense for over 20 years, scoring more than 120 goals since his A-match debut in 2003. but the fact that one player has monopolized his team’s scoring history for so long paradoxically highlights a structural dilemma for Ronaldo’s Portugal.

the structural issues behind the great record

portugal has no shortage of talented attacking options, with Diogo Jota, João Felix, Raphael Varane, and Bruno Fernandes all playing for world-class clubs, yet the national team’s goals are still concentrated at Ronaldo’s feet. this is more than just an issue with the individual skills of the other players, it suggests that the national team’s tactics and player development philosophy as a whole are still too “Ronaldo-centric.

are we preparing for ‘post-Ronaldo’?

the biggest concern is the ‘void’ after Ronaldo leaves the national team. while Ronaldo is an absolute staple of the team in terms of leadership, goalscoring, experience, and everything else, no player is forever, and teammate Joao Cancelo recently indirectly alluded to the need for generational change when he said, “The team doesn’t depend on him.”

however, the team’s tactics are still structured around Ronaldo and are geared towards maximizing his goalscoring ability. head coach Roberto Martinez has also emphasized Ronaldo’s importance and has guaranteed him a starting spot,[219] but critics argue that this could lead to a missed opportunity to explore new attacking options and test different tactics. without serious thought and preparation for a Plan B without Ronaldo, his great record may be a rather sad legacy for the future of Portuguese soccer.