Cristiano Ronaldo has earned one final shot at World Cup glory with superb Portugal form despite woeful Euro 2024 displays

The tears began to flow down Ronaldo's cheeks as soon as the full-time whistle blew at the Al Thumama Stadium stadium in Doha on the night of December 10, 2022. The Portugal captain was so upset that he couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge the Seleccao's supporters. The pain was too great. So great, in fact, that he wasn't able to address his country's shock quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco until the following day - and even then only in a social media post.

"To win a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career," he wrote on Instagram. "In my five appearances at World Cups over 16 years, always playing alongside great players and supported by millions of Portuguese, I have given my all. I left everything I had on the pitch. I'll never shrink from a battle and I have never given up on that dream. Unfortunately, that dream ended yesterday." And not in a way that Ronaldo could palate. 

He had arrived in Qatar characteristically confident of not only silencing his critics after a shamefully shambolic end to his second spell at Manchester United, but also winning the one trophy to have eluded him. However, he departed in much the same manner as his Old Trafford exit, with his reputation tarnished by public displays of petulance and reports that he had privately threatened to leave the Portuguese camp after being dropped for the last-16 clash with Switzerland - which Fernando Santos' side won 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Ronaldo's replacement, Goncalo Ramos.

"I just want everybody to know that a lot has been said, a lot has been written, a lot has been speculated about, but my dedication to Portugal has never wavered for an instant," Ronaldo wrote in his social media post. "I was always just one more player fighting for everyone's goal and I would never turn my back on my team-mates and my country."

"For now," he added, "there's not much more to say. Thank you, Portugal. Thank you, Qatar. The dream was beautiful while it lasted... Now, we have to let time be a good adviser and allow everyone to draw their own conclusions."

The Portuguese Football Federation (PFF), for their part, concluded that it was "the right moment to start a new cycle" with a new coach - but there was to be no new captain.

Roberto Martinez represented a bizarre choice to succeed Santos, given the Spaniard was best known for failing to win a major trophy with Belgian's 'Golden Generation'.

"Anyone who says Martinez is a good coach doesn’t understand football," former Red Devils midfielder Radja Nainggolan told content creator Junior Vertongen on YouTube. "A good coach gives a team an idea. We never had that with him. We had no patterns or running lines. We relied on moments. Maybe [Nacer] Chadli would do something, or [Axel] Witsel would send in a corner for [Marouane] Fellaini. That was our football. [Kevin] De Bruyne was told to play right forward when he wanted to be in midfield. He still did it because that’s what the coach asked.

"And it's not about me being bitter. When I was seventh-choice under [Antonio] Conte [at Inter], I accepted it. I respected him because he's a top coach. Some managers you respect even if you don’t play; others you know aren’t up to the job. I've had coaches I played for, and I'd say, 'That was a terrible coach.' Martinez is one of those. When things got hard, it was always the same: give the ball to [Eden] Hazard or De Bruyne and hope they sort it out. That was the plan."

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Martinez has employed a similarly simplistic strategy with Portugal: Get the ball in the box for Ronaldo.

Santos' undeniably negative tactics, coupled with the calamitous nature of the 2022 World Cup campaign, offered Martinez a glorious opportunity to build an exciting new side around Portugal's plethora of potential superstars. He didn't take it, though.

In his first significant act as the Seleccao's coach, he instead elected to fly to Saudi Arabia to convince Ronaldo to lead Portugal towards - and into - Euro 2024. It proved a predictably disastrous decision. Ronaldo scored freely during qualifying but didn't find the back of the net once in Germany. Worse still, his attempts to break his duck became as counter-productive as they were embarrassing.

It was clear that Ronaldo needed to be taken out of the firing line, but Martinez even refused to drop the misfiring forward for Portugal's final, meaningless group game, effectively prioritising the indulgence of an individual over the good of the group. Consequently, the pressure on the captain only intensified after another goal-less outing in a humiliating 2-0 loss to Georgia - and it eventually became even too much for Ronaldo to bear after missing a penalty in the last-16 showdown with Slovenia.

At half-time in extra-time in Frankfurt, one of the finest players in football history broke down. It was a staggering sight. A living legend had become a liability. After years spent heroically carrying his team-mates, they were now carrying him - and he knew it. 

It was, thus, difficult not to feel some degree of sympathy for the struggling striker - followed by admiration for him even stepping up to take the first spot-kick in the shootout, let alone converting it.

Martinez has long been a master of misdirection, a coach that always talks a great game, even after a poor performance, so it was inevitable that he would focus on Ronaldo's commendable courage in his post-match press conference, rather than the horror-show that preceded it - and his role in it.

What was even less surprising was that he would stick to his blatantly flawed game plan in the quarter-final clash with France, with Ronaldo once again tasked with leading the line. Doing the same thing over and over again obviously failed to yield a different result and Portugal were eliminated on penalties by a dreadfully ineffective France side, after their toiling talisman had drawn yet another blank.

At that point, the wisdom of persisting with both Martinez and Ronaldo became the subject of a national debate. As one memorable headline implored, "More Portugal, less Ronaldo!" Even during the Seleccao's impressive run of results in the 2024-25 Nations League, there were rumours that the FPF's newly elected president, Pedro Proenca, was leaning towards sacking Martinez after the finals in Germany and replacing him with Jose Mourinho.

Ronaldo was unsurprisingly annoyed by the constant speculation surrounding the Spaniard, who was effectively responsible for prolonging his international career. "Questioning someone who has a spectacular record for Portugal confuses me," he said just before the Nations League final against Spain. "There has been a bit of a lack of respect in this regard. Talking about other coaches does not make sense either. The coach has done an extraordinary job.

"Even when you win, there is this debate, but it is part of the parrots who are at home and give their opinion. What we have to say is that we are very happy with the work that the coach has done, because arriving with a different nationality, speaking our language, singing our anthem with a passion that I see, that is what I value most. The rest doesn't matter at all. The results are very positive, regardless of whether we win or not. There will always be debate, but, for me, it makes no sense at all."

After defending Martinez off the field, Ronaldo then rescued him on it. He netted the winner in the Nations League semi-final win over Germany before striking again in the tournament-decider against Spain, which Portugal won on penalties. Basically, Martinez had risked his job (and what was left of his reputation) on Ronaldo - and the gamble belatedly paid off.

The doubts over whether Martinez is really getting the most out of such a special Seleccao squad haven't gone away. The feeling remains that Portugal - who need just two points from their final two games to qualify for next summer's World Cup - are succeeding in spite of the manager and his immobile No.9 rather than because of them; that Portugal simply have too many world-class players to fail.

However, Martinez can now point to both a trophy and Ronaldo's post-Euro 2024 scoring spree (13 goals in 13 appearances) to justify constructing his entire attack around a 40-year-old forward. "Being a coach isn't about picking or not picking Cristiano Ronaldo, it's about using the best players to have the best team and win titles," Martinez argued in June. "It's important to make decisions based on facts, and Cristiano has scored 20 times in his last 25 matches [for Portugal]. Nobody else has a record like this."

Even accounting for the fact that Nations League games and World Cup qualifiers aren't the most reliable indicators of true quality, Ronaldo's sensational strike-rate makes it difficult to argue with his continued inclusion in Portugal's starting line-up, as it underlines that he remains a lethal finisher and, perhaps more importantly, one of the toughest players mentally that the game has ever seen. Lesser characters would have folded after such an embarrassing Euros, but Ronaldo retained his seemingly unshakeable self-belief.

Martinez has also claimed that Ronaldo's mere presence in the Portugal squad lifts everyone around him. "He doesn’t need to speak to motivate others - his work and mentality already send the message," the ex-Everton boss said. "He’s the first one looking for the small detail that gives him an edge. He’s an example for everyone. It’s amazing how his attitude spreads to others. What he does on the pitch is only part of what he brings to the team."

It should also be acknowledged that Ronaldo's move to the Middle East now looks like a masterstroke, because it's benefited him almost as much physically as it has financially. Playing at a lower level in Saudi Arabia has protected his ageing body from the punishing intensity of Europe's elite leagues - while at the same time making it far easier for football's first billionaire footballer to continue his relentless pursuit of 1000 career goals. He's now scored 109 times in 122 outings for Al-Nassr, who might also actually win a meaningful trophy this season after an unbeaten start to their Pro League campaign, which would only put Ronaldo in an even more positive frame of mind ahead of next summer's World Cup in North America.

One can still make all sorts of arguments about the merits of Martinez effectively pinning Portugal's hopes on a 41-year-old forward, because there is no Plan B. Ronaldo's body simply has to hold up over the next eight months as the Seleccao have played so few games without their captain under Martinez (just one since the Euros, in fact). Whatever one thinks about Martinez as a manager, though, Ronaldo's greatness as a player is beyond question.

The mere fact that he's heading towards a sixth World Cup is barely believable, and testament to his tremendous talent and inspirational work ethic. Ronaldo may be intent on playing down the importance of the tournament - perhaps for fear of further tarnishing his legacy - but the prospect of getting his hands on the most prestigious prize in sport is clearly one of the main reasons why he's still pushing himself to the very limit of his physical and mental capabilities.

Say what you will about Ronaldo, but he's definitely not lost his awe-inspiring gift for defying the odds. He simply refuses to admit defeat and, after so many spirit-crushing setbacks in recent years, one can hardly begrudge him one last shot at World Cup glory. He's earned it through sheer force of will.

Of course, it could all end in tears once again - but, at 40 years of age, Ronaldo's revived a dream that even he himself thought had died in 2022. Without wanting to sound (or smell) like Piers Morgan, this might just be his most amazing achievement to date...