Scholes Reveals Cristiano Ronaldo Will Be Pissed After Lionel Messis Hat Trick Warns His Movement Is A Problem

Paul Scholes believes Portugal have a Cristiano Ronaldo problem after the striker’s poor display in his team’s FIFA World Cup opener on Thursday. Portugal toiled in a frustrating 1-1 draw against DR Congo. Even though Joao Neves scored early, they never looked to be in cruise control. The attack looked sluggish and disconnected, and the Selecao eventually surrendered a well-deserved DR Congo equaliser just before halftime.

At the centre of the dysfunction was a 41-year-old Ronaldo, who laboured through a full 90 minutes. He managed just 25 touches and three shots, all of which were off-target, with a cumulative post-shot value xG of -0.77. He has now gone 10 consecutive major tournament games (FIFA World Cup and Euros, not including the UEFA Nations League) without scoring for Portugal.

For Scholes, age has finally caught up with his former Manchester United teammate.

“I feel he is a little bit of a problem… There’s only one position on the pitch at 41 years of age where you should be starting a game, and that’s goalkeeper, for me."

"He is going to score goals in a team that has possession, but in transition games, his movement at 41 is a problem. Portugal doesn’t have an outstanding centre-forward, but you need someone who runs. For me, he should play the last 15 minutes. You might get away with playing at 41 as a centre-half or a goalkeeper, but as a centre-forward, it’s just not right."

Benching your team’s captain is never easy. That decision becomes exponentially harder when he is a living legend, one of the greatest players of all time and Portugal’s finest goalscorer. We have seen this exact movie play out before.

During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, then-manager Fernando Santos made the massive decision to bench Ronaldo for the knockout stages. Initially, it looked like a masterstroke. Goncalo Ramos stepped into the starting lineup and immediately smashed a hat-trick in a 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland. But the tactical triumph was fleeting. Ramos blanked in the quarter-final, Portugal suffered a shock elimination to Morocco, and Santos quit his role.

When Roberto Martínez took the job, he immediately put Ronaldo back in the starting lineup. The veteran's leadership and goal-scoring put to bed much of the controversy around his ageing performances. But dominating weaker opposition in the qualifiers is one thing. A World Cup is an entirely different beast, and the honeymoon phase is officially over.

With Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick, and Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane all scoring braces, the spotlight has further intensified on Ronaldo’s forgettable display, with Scholes believing Ronaldo would surely be “hurting”.

"Cristiano will be so pissed off because Lionel Messi got a hat-trick, Kylian Mbappe got two. It will be killing him," said the former England midfielder. "I think it’s difficult for the manager... I feel sorry for [Roberto] Martinez because he’s trying to embrace it and he’s saying, 'No, I’ve got the best goalscorer in the world', but deep down he must know that’s hurting his team."

With a stern test against Colombia lying in wait in their final group stage game, Portugal will have no margin for error when they face off against Uzbekistan on Wednesday. Any slip-up could leave them staring down the barrel of ignominious elimination in CR7’s final World Cup appearance.