NEW YORK – Two things can be true of Cristiano Ronaldo. He will end his career without winning a World Cup and yet somehow, he is the perfect poster boy for an ever more surreal Fifa brand.
Portugal will remember this as their summer of squandered opportunity, Ronaldo’s obstructive presence the triumph of the celebrity cult over the finer mechanics of the game.
At 41, he should never have played as many minutes at this World Cup as he did; not least because he was supposed to be banned for two of them, before Fifa inexplicably intervened to stop him being suspended. Could you imagine?
None of the attributes which once made Ronaldo soar above the rest – with one exception – are present any longer. Spain left him in space that once would have been criminal. In the air, Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsi made light work of him. At the break, he had had 12 touches, the fewest of anyone on the pitch.
That much was obvious to Bruno Fernandes, who became reluctant to cross to him at all, though not to his manager, Roberto Martinez. Such wilful blindness ultimately cost him his job – he resigned hours after the final whistle.
