Portugal’s players ‘don’t trust Cristiano Ronaldo enough’ to pass to him, Stuart Pearce has suggested after their 2-1 win over Czechia at Euro 2024.
Roberto Martinez’s side kicked off their Euros campaign with a nervy comeback victory on Tuesday night in Leipzig.
After dominating the game, the Czech’s took a shock lead through Lukas Provod’s stunner.
Minutes later, the score was level again after Robin Hranac’s unfortunate own goal but the underdogs kept Portugal at bay and looked on course for a point.
That was until the 92nd minute when Francisco Conceicao found the back of the net just 111 seconds after coming off the bench.
There had been much debate in the build-up to the tournament over whether Ronaldo would be a help or a hinderance to his side with the 39-year-old no longer at the height of his powers, especially after 18 months in the Saudi Pro League.
In the first-half, the legendary forward had plenty of chances to score but couldn’t convert them, with opportunities dwindling after the break.
Commentating on talkSPORT, former England star Pearce suggested that Ronaldo’s teammates perhaps lacked confidence in their captain and talisman.
He said: ‘This might sound ridiculous, but [maybe] they don’t trust Ronaldo enough to keep supplying him with the ball, that type of thing.
‘There’s been times in the games where he’s shown to feet and they’ve not popped the ball into his feet.
‘There was one where Bernardo Silva, it was one of these rogue passes [by Czechia] that got cut out, Bernardo Silva had it in the centre circle.
‘Ronaldo peeled off in an inside-right position. I’m thinking, if this was ten years ago, you slide it in front of him and you know full well he’s going to get there and score.
‘He [Silva] denied the pass, and I found that quite strange.’
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