World Cup: Portugal can count on Ronaldo in Qatar, says Silva

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in only one of Portugal’s 10 games in 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS

LISBON – Cristiano Ronaldo retains the support of his Portugal teammates despite his recent problems, midfielder Bernardo Silva said as the side prepare for their eighth World Cup tournament in Qatar.

“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.

Ronaldo, 37, is the leading scorer in the history of men’s international football, with 117 goals in 191 games, but his goalscoring form has dipped lately.

He has scored in only one of Portugal’s 10 games in 2022, netting a brace against Switzerland in the Nations League in June, and only three times this season for his club Manchester United, where he has struggled to get into the starting line-up.

But Silva, who plays for English champions Manchester City, and will participate in his second World Cup, said Ronaldo remained central to Portugal’s ambitions.

“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 never won the World Cup, with third place in 1966 their best performance. They did, however, win the European Championship in 2016.

“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.”

Earlier last week, Portugal coach Fernando Santos also backed Ronaldo, despite selecting plenty of younger attackers in his team, including Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao.

“All the players I have called up come with the hunger to win and make Portugal world champions, Ronaldo included,” he said.

 “In the last four games, he played. Right now he’s playing.”

Ronaldo is also excited to be heading to Qatar in what could be his last chance at World Cup glory.

“Once again, ready to raise the name of Portugal high,” he wrote on social media. “There are 26 names on Mister Fernando Santos’ list, but we are all summoned! Power Portugal!”

Portugal open their campaign in Qatar on Nov 24 against Ghana in Group H, which also contains South Korea and Uruguay. REUTERS

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