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Cristiano Ronaldo has been backed to lead Portugal to glory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by his Portugal teammate Bernado Silva.
Ronaldo has suffered through a poor campaign where he has only managed two goals and three assists in 16 appearances. Off field drama has also been an issue between the Portuguese superstar and Manchester United. He did not travel for Manchester United’s preseason tour as he was looking to leave the club but was unable to find interested suitors. Then Ronaldo famously refused to come on as a substitute then left the pitch before the full time whistle in the win against Tottenham Hotspur last month. He was subsequently punished for his actions.
Ronaldo will be tasked with leading a very talented Portugal national team to glory in Qatar. This will be the 37-year-old’s fifth World Cup and could become the first player to score in five different World Cups.
Ronaldo’s goal return of with 117 goals in 191 games makes him the highest goalscorer in the history of men’s internatiinal football but as it has been at club level, Ronaldo has not been finding the back of the net regularly for Portugal either. It will be a cause for concern among fans since he will play every game when he is fit but Bernado Silva believes in Ronaldo’s quality and reputation.
“The reality is when you’ve got a player like Cristiano, it’s natural that sometimes you play for him because he can win you the game in the final minutes,” Silva told the FIFA website.
Silva could have been teammates with Ronaldo at Manchester City as the Premier League champions were set to sign the Portuguese forward before Manchester United hijacked the move, convincing Ronaldo to make a romantic return to the club in the summer of 2021.
“When you have these kinds of players on your side, you have to take advantage of them, although I agree you can’t become over-dependent on them as this can disrupt the team dynamics,” he said. “But, if we get it right, having Cristiano in our team will be a powerful weapon.”
Portugal have not won the World Cup in their history with third place in 1966 their best finish at the tournament. Bernado Silva belives that his country has what it takes to make history for their great nation but must take one step at a time to get there.
“Of course, I think about it. It’s every kid’s dream. Winning the World Cup, the biggest competition in football, is obviously a dream we all share but we’ll take it one game at a time because I think that’s the best way to win any championship, whether it’s for your club or your country,” Silva said.
“Our goal is to be champions but we must take it slowly, game by game. The focus is on our next training session, the match, recovery, training again, the next game and so on. Like that, we’ll get there.”
Portugal begin their World Cup campaign on November 24th against Ghana.
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