Ronal-do or die: Cristiano’s final European hurrah

Euro 2016 most likely final chance for Portugal skipper to win continental championship

LISBON: For a player that has won almost everything, the one honour that agonisingly evades Cristiano Ronaldo is an international trophy with Portugal.

Euro 2016 will be Ronaldo’s fourth and, at 31, possibly last European Championship.

The previous three have all promised much, only to end in varying degrees of disappointment for the three-time World Player of the Year.

In 2004, Ronaldo announced his presence on the international stage, scoring twice as Portugal reached the final on home soil before suffering a devastating defeat to shock winners Greece.



Four years later, Ronaldo looked set to make amends. He was at the prime of his career having led Manchester United to the Champions League a month before arriving in Austria and Switzerland.

Yet Ronaldo found the net just once as after an impressive group stage, Portugal bowed out to Germany in the quarter-finals.

But Euro 2012 will arguably haunt the Madeira-born superstar the most.

Ronaldo came into the tournament on the back of a record-breaking 60-goal season with Madrid as they ended the dominance of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side in Spain to win La Liga.



His double against the Netherlands led Portugal out of a group of death also including Germany.

Ronaldo struck the winner against the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, but watched on in anguish as Portugal fell short by the finest of margins against a Spain side replete with Barca players exacted revenge on penalties in the semi-finals.

Never one to shy away from the big moment, Ronaldo’s desire for glory got the better of him as he opted to take Portugal’s fifth penalty. The problem was the shootout never got that far as Spain won 5-3 leaving Ronaldo to look ruefully at the Donetsk night sky claiming there was “no justice”.



As well the grand collective prize, there are also individual accolades on offer that will entice a record hoarder like Ronaldo.

He can become the first man to score in four Euros and is just three goals from Michel Platini’s record of nine in the finals.

Both targets look eminently achievable in a group containing tournament debutants Iceland, Hungary — in their first major tournament since 1986 — and Austria.

The chance to deliver a blow in his eternal battle with Lionel Messi for another Ballon d’Or is also at stake.

Yet, even for the preening peacock Ronaldo, after the millions earned, league titles and Champions Leagues won in Manchester and Madrid, the real goal must finally be delivering for his country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2016.

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