The impression that Cristiano Ronaldo runs the Portugal national team is not a new one. But it may be that little bit more enhanced on Sunday evening in Lisbon.
On the bench, there will be no coach, with Fernando Santos serving the latest 90 minutes of a touchline suspension.
Not many in the Stadio da Luz will mind if Ronaldo, the captain, appears to take charge of proceedings as Portugal face Serbia in the fourth of their Euro 2016 qualifiers.
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Ronaldo is a blessing to his country. The 52 Portugal goals he has scored, the ties he has almost single-handedly won testify to that.
He may be the nation’s most conspicuous living citizen and the only times his conspicuousness does harm is when he theatrically displays his irritation at the mortal shortcomings of his colleagues.
He did so even during matches at the final stages of the last European championships, in Poland, and his public exasperation was not an edifying spectacle to watch.
In the course of some testing episodes since, Real Madrid’s Ronaldo has mostly been an inspiring leader and captain.
Portugal reached the last World Cup thanks to his goals in a play-off against Sweden. He had four; his teammates had none in a 4-2 aggregate victory.
In Brazil, they failed to reach the second phase, though other senior players – Pepe was red-carded early in their opening game versus Germany – carried greater responsibility for that flop.
The coach, Paulo Bento, lost his job. The new man, Santos, is a more experienced coach, though with a volatile streak: his ban dates from a confrontation with a match official while he managed Greece at the last World Cup. From his seat in the stands, Santos could see his team move to the top of Group I with a victory.
Ronaldo’s mood?
Better than it was during the last half hour of his previous match, when his Real Madrid were slipping to defeat against Barcelona, and he was yellow-carded for simulation.
He later made an offensive gesture at the referee and had an altercation with Barca’s Javier Mascherano.
On arrival in Portugal for international duty, Ronaldo made a show of his jovial disposition, subjecting his international teammate, Ricardo Quaresma, the former Al Ahli winger, to an elaborate practical joke: he covered Quaresma’s car in tin foil.
Ronaldo’s form?
He scored for Madrid in the 2-1 Barcelona win, but his prolific scoring of the months from August to December has dwindled for his club since 2015 began. Portugal’s hope is that the effect is not contagious.
Ronaldo goals have provided all their six points in qualifying so far, with goals in the two 1-0 wins that followed Portugal’s poor opening fixture, a defeat at home to Albania.
“Cristiano is the best player in the world, whatever form he is in at any given moment,” said Andre Gomes, the Portugal midfielder.
Santos said: “If he does what we did for the first half in Madrid’s game against Barcelona, we’ll all be saying he’s in great form. The only thing I worry about with Ronaldo is if he’s not able to be with us.”
Santos’s point is well taken.
In the decade Ronaldo has been Portugal’s star, the side have got into a habit of making hard work of qualifying for major tournaments.
Although two countries qualify automatically from Group I and one candidate, Serbia, have been docked three points for violent incidents during their abandoned match against Albania, Santos will not make too many assumptions about Portugal’s breezing through while he is so dependent on one man for his team’s goals.
Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in his past 15 internationals. With veteran striker Helder Postiga injured, he is the one reliable marksman.
Centre-forward Hugo Almeida has scored a single club league goal in 2014/15, a season he has spent first with Italy’s Cesena and now Kuban Krasnodar of Russia.
Braga striker Eder is yet to get off the mark, internationally, after 16 caps.
Not too much doubt, then, for Serbia’s defenders, about whom they should mark closest.
Portugal defender Pepe ruled out of Serbia qualifier
Real Madrid defender Pepe will miss Portugal’s Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Serbia on Sunday because of slight concussion, national coach Fernando Santos revealed on Saturday.
“Pepe tried to recover from minor concussion this week but unfortunately will not play in Sunday’s match,” Santos told a pre-match press conference.
The Brazil-born defender was substituted after taking a knock playing for Real Madrid during last weekend’s 2-1 loss to La Liga rivals Barcelona.
Portgual are currently second in Group I and one point behind Denmark, but with a game in hand, while Serbia are joint bottom of the pool with Armenia after picking up one point from three matches.
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