'Scared to axe Cristiano Ronaldo' - Ex-Premier League star launches stinging attack on Roberto Martinez as Portugal boss accused of 'lacking backbone' after CR7's 'selfish' Euro 2024 display vs Slovenia

Martinez has chosen Ronaldo to start in all four of Portugal's games at Euro 2024, despite the 39-year-old failing to provide any attacking returns aside from a solitary assist. The Al Nassr forward is evidently desperate to break his duck at the tournament - he had eight shots in total in the last-16 against Slovenia, and displayed numerous acts of selfishness - and Sutton believes his presence is beginning to hurt the Seleccao.

Ronaldo may not have the blistering pace he possessed in his twenties, nor the nous or desire to press from the front, but it's nearly impossible to imagine him sitting on the bench while someone else does his job. And therein lies the problem for Martinez - how does he axe a five-time Ballon d'Or winner who is coming off a 50-goal season for Al-Nassr, regardless of the effect that doing so would have on the harmony of the squad?

Sutton believes the former Belgium coach needs to stop being scared and bench Ronaldo for the sake of the team. "I'm looking at Roberto Martinez, someone with such a lack of backbone that I'm surprised he's standing up straight in the technical area," the former Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers forward wrote for the Daily Mail. "He almost seems scared to axe Ronaldo, who might as well be named Portugal's manager with the amount of carte blanche he is being gifted in Germany. Eventually, a manager must realise when a player is not benefiting the team, no matter who it is. You have to be brave enough to make difficult decisions without worrying whom you might upset."

Sutton added: "Nobody is disputing that Ronaldo had the most magnificent career imaginable. But on Monday night, he looked like the kid who brings the ball down to the local park and then when he's had enough, he sticks it up his jumper and goes home so no one else can play. It was a performance shrouded in selfishness, becoming more embarrassing every time he fluffed a free-kick while Bruno Fernandes stood idly by. The tears that followed his penalty miss were proof that the pressure can get to even the greatest players."

Ronaldo has already made history by becoming the first player to appear in six European Championships. A goal would see him become the only player in history to score in six different editions of the competition.

Portugal reached the quarter-finals by beating Slovenia on penalties, with Ronaldo making up for his earlier spot-kick miss by beating Jan Oblak in the shootout. Martinez's side meet France in their last-eight contest on Friday.