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Portugal enters post-Ronaldo era after being eliminated from the World Cup

DOHA, QATAR –

The fortunes of the Portuguese national team have been inextricably linked to Cristiano Ronaldo’s for almost two decades.

Is a new era upon us?

Ronaldo broke down in tears as he entered the dressing room after Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.

It remains to be seen whether that will be the last time the world will see Ronaldo on the international stage. If so, it would mark an important moment for the Portuguese team, as Ronaldo is the captain, record goalscorer and greatest player ever.

It is likely that the team will also have another coach for the first time since 2014 when qualifying for the 2024 European Championship begins in March.

EXPECTION VS. PERFORMANCE

Reaching the quarter-finals is Portugal’s minimum expectation given the depth of talent in their squad. The team made it through to the group stage by winning the opening two matches. Coach Fernando Santos rotated the majority of the starting lineup for the final group stage match against South Korea, which won 2-1 on a late goal, and then beat Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16. . After the surprise of the tournament, Portugal were still expected to beat the North African nation in the quarterfinals, so in that sense it was another missed opportunity and perhaps a poor performance. of Ronaldo and his teammates.

WHO IS OUT

The world is waiting to see if Ronaldo, 37, will retire from international football after scoring 118 goals – a record for men’s football – and making 196 appearances in 19 years at the club. National team. If Ronaldo continues, it is more likely to be Euro 2024 and not the 2026 World Cup, then he will be 41 years old. At 39 years old, midfielder Pepe is likely to play the last major tournament. More doubtful is the future of Santos, who took charge of Portugal in 2014 after four years leading the Greek national team. He has a contract until 2024 and repeatedly deflected any talk of leaving his position sooner after the loss to Morocco. “I will discuss with the president (Portuguese football federation) and when we return to Portugal we will deal with the contract issue,” Santos said.

NEXT PERSON

A future without Ronaldo may be an alarming proposition, but there are talents emerging. In the foreground is 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick against Switzerland as a substitute for Ronaldo in his first national team match. There’s a lot of excitement about the development of Antonio Silva, a 19-year-old Benfica centre-back who seems like a natural replacement for Pepe – a player more than twice his age. Jo├úo Felix is ​​only 23 years old, so he has time to play, while the full-backs Diogo Dalot and Nuno Mendes are only 23 and 20 respectively.

WHAT NEXT

With or without Ronaldo, Portugal is still rated higher in the Euro 2024 qualifying group. Portugal opened the group stage in March with a home match against Liechtenstein. The other teams in Group J are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Slovakia and Luxembourg. If Portugal go to the tournament in Germany, expect the team to be among the favorites – even without their most famous player.



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