People take for granted Ronaldo’s stats but Portugal was not a football superpower that people think they might be today. Even today, they lack severely in defense and attacking options at the very top compared to teams like Argentina, Poland (currently under-performing) and Brazil.
It’s shocking that he and his team won the Euros at any point given Portugal have barely been an international side in all of their history.
??? Portugal have been an international side since 1921, and have placed in the top three at the 1966 WC, 1984 euros, 2000 euros, and got second in 2004. They aren’t Germany or Brazil, but it’s not like they’re Iceland. They’ve long been respectable.
That’s really inflating their tournament runs. They had only ever qualified for 3 World Cups before Ronaldo joined the team. They had made the semis twice in the history of the Euros but again had only qualified for 3 European Championships in their history before 2004. They are nowhere near the powerhouses that either Argentina or Brazil were and I don’t think it’s wrong to say they were not influential at all in World Cup football except for one tournament run. They were stronger in the Euros, yes, but they were not very present. It’s more down to the recent expansions and an explosion in Portuguese talent that has allowed Portugal to actually be regular tournament competitors.
This is some next level crazzy take… Portugal were never powerhouses, but they have allways been competitive in the Ronaldo era, the early 90’s and 80’s were portugal weakest years, then we had Figo’s generation leading up to Ronaldo. Its just stupid comparing them to poland just cuz they have Lewa upfront .
Soso. With the golden generation, they did not qualify for any world cups in the 90s and went out in the group stage in 2002 (losing to South Korea and USA). They did well in 2004 and 2006 but that was already with Ronaldo. Before Ronaldo they only qualified for 3 world cups and 3 euros throughout their history. They were not really a powerhouse even with the golden generation tbf.
Wouldn’t that make Ronaldo’s stats easier to obtain because he is on a weaker team? Basically, the ball always goes to him because others on the team aren’t as good; he simply doesn’t need to share the ball like Messi and Neymar
LOL, what? They have Felix, Rafael Leao, Bernado Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo himself in attack. Not to mention young talents like Ramos. Is that what you called “severely lacking”.
![[ESPNFC] Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr’s International Stats.](https://alien.top/pictrs/image/bf00c9e0-8bde-4828-8b67-c9b1eb3f2bb4.webp){kind=link}
People take for granted Ronaldo’s stats but Portugal was not a football superpower that people think they might be today. Even today, they lack severely in defense and attacking options at the very top compared to teams like Argentina, Poland (currently under-performing) and Brazil.
It’s shocking that he and his team won the Euros at any point given Portugal have barely been an international side in all of their history.
??? Portugal have been an international side since 1921, and have placed in the top three at the 1966 WC, 1984 euros, 2000 euros, and got second in 2004. They aren’t Germany or Brazil, but it’s not like they’re Iceland. They’ve long been respectable.
That’s really inflating their tournament runs. They had only ever qualified for 3 World Cups before Ronaldo joined the team. They had made the semis twice in the history of the Euros but again had only qualified for 3 European Championships in their history before 2004. They are nowhere near the powerhouses that either Argentina or Brazil were and I don’t think it’s wrong to say they were not influential at all in World Cup football except for one tournament run. They were stronger in the Euros, yes, but they were not very present. It’s more down to the recent expansions and an explosion in Portuguese talent that has allowed Portugal to actually be regular tournament competitors.
Poland?
That’s gotta be a typo
This is some next level crazzy take… Portugal were never powerhouses, but they have allways been competitive in the Ronaldo era, the early 90’s and 80’s were portugal weakest years, then we had Figo’s generation leading up to Ronaldo. Its just stupid comparing them to poland just cuz they have Lewa upfront .
Soso. With the golden generation, they did not qualify for any world cups in the 90s and went out in the group stage in 2002 (losing to South Korea and USA). They did well in 2004 and 2006 but that was already with Ronaldo. Before Ronaldo they only qualified for 3 world cups and 3 euros throughout their history. They were not really a powerhouse even with the golden generation tbf.
Wouldn’t that make Ronaldo’s stats easier to obtain because he is on a weaker team? Basically, the ball always goes to him because others on the team aren’t as good; he simply doesn’t need to share the ball like Messi and Neymar
A few days ago some portuguese dudes were claiming their national team was better than the Netherlands lol
LOL, what? They have Felix, Rafael Leao, Bernado Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo himself in attack. Not to mention young talents like Ramos. Is that what you called “severely lacking”.