Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright are in agreement that Cristiano Ronaldo needs to leave international football behind him.
Portugal were one of the favourites to go all the way at Euro 2024 but were knocked after losing to France on penalties in the quarter-finals on Friday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo started all five matches up front for his side but failed to find the net in any of them.
It is likely that he has played his last tournament for his country as he will be 41 at the next World Cup and Keane, Neville and Wright think it is the time to walk away.
Wright said on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, brought to you by Sky Bet: 'Portugal should be very disappointed about that [going out of EURO 2024] simply because of how good their team is – when you look at them from defence to attack.
'The way he [Cristiano Ronaldo] played in EURO 2024, as great as he's been, surely Diogo Jota must be disappointed that he couldn't get on that pitch.
'What I saw of him [Cristiano Ronaldo], he can't cut it at this level now. As good as he is, as fit as he is, as driven as he is, you can see he just can't quite get it out of his feet to get a shot in, the movement with a header, he can't get past a defender now.'
Keane added: 'He [Cristiano Ronaldo] should have a break and step back from international football, and if he's still playing at club level, then have a look at the World Cup when it comes around.
'We look at [Harry] Kane when Kane's quite off it, and your main goal scorers not at it, you're playing with ten men. When you're playing at the highest level, you really can't carry anybody. His [Cristiano Ronaldo] movement is still there – against France, brilliant.
'He [Cristiano Ronaldo] can carry on playing, but just not international football. How many footballers do we know that have stopped playing international football at a younger age and obviously carried on having a club career.
'Part of your decision making [when you're coming to the end of your career] is to step back to let other players learn. You could be holding people back and that's not good for the bigger picture [of the team].'
Neville then proposed that Ronaldo's presence could be detrimental to the team.
'This dynamic of unbelievable desire, self-fight, determination – all those things that you love about him [Cristiano Ronaldo] – how overbearing is it for the rest of the players and the manager and the country?'
'There's two things – one, the player sometimes knows when to let it go, but there are some players who don't and need telling but there is an element of who tells him [Cristiano Ronaldo].'
'I don't think he's [Cristiano Ronaldo] got it in him. At the end of the day, I'm not saying that if they [Portugal] had played with Diogo Jota they would have done better at this tournament or not do better, but that overbearing nature of his presence is huge – it was at [Manchester] United at the end.'
To watch the third episode of Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, fans can tune in to ITV1 & ITVX on Monday 8th July at 11.40pm or watch it on The Overlap YouTube channel.
Pecelrtuz
517
Cr5 doesn't care if his team loses as long as he sets up a certain record for himself, his fans blamed the previous manager fr benching him during the WC in Qatar now the euros he played all the games with no impact, got KO and his fans wr like he is stll the goat, better next time, yes he is a great player but his mentality of thinking he is the only one who can do the impossible will keep on costing Portugal
sasaeikopt
507
Glad the coach used him thoroughly for all matches because that's what he (Ronaldo) wants. Now, there's no excuse whatsoever. it's pellucid that Ronaldo is the problem. He is the one holding the team back
ManUtdAmadDialo
485
But his lunatics fans will come out and say Roy Kean Nd Neville are jealous of Ronaldo.! To be honest Cr5 is a closed chapter now, and the sooner he realizes that the better for every Portuguese player
Necadkrt
370
what do we use to measure a striker if not goals..... Messi will still play bcos he is a playmaker and his impact will be felt even without scoring
boucdert
363
I hate the way Ronaldo is killing the dreams of this talented Portugal team
Tahcelpyz
314
Nooooo he won't, he still thinks he can be like Messi. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Vezbklmnru
292
Messi is the problem and has long has he continues playing Ronaldo will never stop playing. So my advice to Messi is, stop playing so that this nightmare will be over.
bodaklotz
259
If you ask me, his fans are his greatest enemy. They know he is finished but keep pushing the old man hard. Now see how embarrassing he seem
Evans0323
194
But his childish fans won’t understand this, because they are all novice
lusdlnptuy
174
my advice to the Portugal team coach is this,if cr7 doesn't retire on his own then just stop calling him for international game's cause honestly he's being selfish and yes it's true that he was once great but you can not go on forever..... after all Diego jota and goncalo Ramos can and would do better
dennisachafu
145
Even if he doesn't retire at the national level but he should accept to step back and allow other people to start. At 39 or 40 you must not start every game and this is the only problem I see in Ronaldo. If he must achieve his world cup goal, he should accept to stay with the team but not to play every important match. Ronaldo has nothing to prove. He has achieved greatness in football without doubt but his selfishness and record chasing instinct will continue to affect Portugal in major tournaments especially at his present age. For example, in last world cup, Ramos scored a hatrick but in their next match Ronaldo was still eager to start and bench the young man. I love Ronaldo but for the sake of Portugal national team, he should step back and be a motivator and also accept to be in the team whether he plays or not. For now, he has the spirit to deliver but the body is weak. Nature is nature, you can't run away from it.
Techniciansy2k
132
its not ronaldo fault...dont forget more hundred goals that he score for the team n bring them to the tournament
The man haven't scored in I think the last 10 tournament games bro. Go and tell Uefa that he score 100+ goals so they can give portugal euro title then