HAMBURG: This time, they weren’t Cristiano Ronaldo’s tears.
Instead, the Portugal superstar’s role was to console weeping teammate Pepe after a painful exit from their last European Championship - and, who knows, potentially their final major international tournament.
Pepe, a defender still excelling for his country at the remarkable age of 41, was dejected as he sobbed on the shoulder of Ronaldo in a embrace lasting about 15 seconds following Portugal’s penalty-shootout loss to France in the quarterfinals in Hamburg on Friday.
Two Portugal stalwarts. A combined age of 80. It was quite the sight.
“Football is very cruel,” Pepe said.
Ronaldo cried himself at Euro 2024 - after having a penalty saved during extra time of the last-16 match against Slovenia just four days ago. He cried at the 2022 World Cup after Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Maybe he was out of tears, because this time he simply looked into the sky, appearing to be disappointed and rueful.
Ronaldo will be 41 when the next major tournament rolls around - the 2026 World Cup, jointly held by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Can he stick around until then?
Well, he is still captain of his country - the holder of a men’s record 130 international goals and 212 international appearances.
He is still churning out full games for his country. The only time he didn’t complete a match at Euro 2024 was in the group stage against Georgia, when he came off in the 66th minute with Portugal assured of advancing. He played the entire 120 minutes against Slovenia and France.
And he still clearly commands the respect of his teammates and coach, Roberto Martinez.
Yet Ronaldo, who now plays his club soccer out of the global spotlight in Saudi Arabia, has now gone eight games without a goal in major tournaments. That takes in all five of Portugal’s matches at Euro 2024 and its final three at the World Cup in Qatar.
He was almost completely shackled by France centrebacks William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, with Ronaldo’s only clear chance coming in extra time when he finally escaped his marker but couldn’t hook a shot on target from a cross from the right.
Francisco Conceicao broke behind the French defence and cut back a pass to Ronaldo just outside the six-yard box but the Portuguese star launched the ball wildly over the crossbar. It was far from a fairytale ending - if it is indeed the end - of an international career that has brought 212 caps and 130 goals.
Ronaldo converted his penalty in the shootout but it wasn’t enough. And then he had to take on the role of comforter for Pepe.
“I won’t say it publicly,” Pepe told TV station Canal 11, when asked what Ronaldo said to him. “But we feel it a lot. Contrary to what many people think, we feel it a lot.
“We feel the frustration of not winning a game, of being eliminated in such a big competition, knowing that we had a lot of quality to go through. That’s the pain we feel.”
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez echoed those thoughts, saying “the tears are tears of frustration.”
“When you play against better opposition, there are no tears but this is hard to accept,” he said. — AP
