With the world turning on Cristiano Ronaldo after his dire World Cup opener for Portugal, even his country have joined in.
The 41-year-old striker put in a poor showing in a 1-1 draw against DR Congo, showing little movement in the box and fluffing three shots off target.
The most scathing criticism came from Thierry Henry, who said ‘Portugal need to score, not you’, taking down Ronaldo by explaining how he was blocking passing lanes.
Now A Bola columnist Nuno Saraiva has joined in, and his words carry particular weight.
Having previously worked at Sporting CP, Ronaldo’s first club, he’s become a rare voice in joining in with the criticism.
Dissecting all of Portugal’s issues in the opener, he then turned to the elephant in the room.
Ronaldo the greatest Portuguese footballer of all time
“There is an even more delicate issue. It’s called Cristiano Ronaldo,” he began.
“I write these lines with profound gratitude. Cristiano is, for me, the greatest footballer in the history of Portugal and one of the two greatest players in the history of world football.
“He gave us titles, records, unforgettable moments, and an international projection that no previous generation managed to achieve.
“The whole country is indebted to him. Precisely for that reason, it hurts to witness this end of an era.
“At 41, Cristiano is no longer the player he was at 31. He couldn’t be. Time, an unbeatable adversary, affects us all, and professional athletes even more so, regardless of their greatness.
“And what for two decades was evident—his status as the main reference point for the national team—is no longer so.”
Ronaldo to blame for not realising he’s a problem
He continued: “The first person responsible for this situation is Cristiano himself, for not recognising that, however hard it is to accept, the time has come for him to retire from the team.
“The second is Roberto Martínez, who, subservient, never demonstrated the capacity or authority to manage this transition in the way that the collective interest demanded.
“The psychological and tactical conditioning caused by Ronaldo’s presence continues to be visible.
“Many players look for him excessively, many plays end up being built around him, and the team loses spontaneity.
“The friendly match against Chile was a clear example. After Cristiano left the field at halftime, Portugal became more mobile, more unpredictable, and ended up unlocking the result. This is not about disrespecting a legend. It’s about recognising a competitive reality.
“There is also a third responsibility: that of those who surround Cristiano Ronaldo and continue to feed him the false idea that he can still carry the National Team on his shoulders alone, as has happened so many times during the last two decades. They can’t. Neither he, nor anyone else.
“For all these reasons, I make a sincere appeal. Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing left to prove. Not to the Portuguese people, not to football, not to himself. His historical stature is guaranteed forever.”
Saraiva finished: “The time has come to leave the stage with the same greatness with which he entered. Out of respect for himself, his teammates, the National Team, the Club that formed him — the great Sporting Clube de Portugal —, to set an example for the thousands of kids who are taking their first kicks at football and who, like this almost elderly man, idolise him, and out of respect for the millions of Portuguese people who grew up admiring him.
“Legends don’t cease to be legends when they stop. On the contrary. Often, they become even greater when they know how to choose the right moment to say goodbye.”
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