Qatar 2022: Ronaldo was cut off, but people made sure Messi succeeded — Neville
According to former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, Argentina’s players and coaches banded together to make sure Lionel Messi had a successful World Cup.
However, Neville believes Portugal did not utilise Cristiano Ronaldo’s abilities against him.
As Portugal fell 1-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals, Ronaldo came off the bench.
The 37-year-old was also benched for their Round of 16 match against Switzerland, a 6-1 victory for Goncalo Ramos in his place.
Ronaldo departed Qatar having scored just one goal in five games, a penalty in the team’s first group game against Ghana.
Neville said: “Messi has been managed by Argentina in terms of how the rest of the group have come around him, and they completely play to his strengths.
“Whereas with Portugal and with Santos having known Cristiano for so long, I thought he’d have done the same.
“It feels to me like something has happened within the tournament that’s meant that plan has changed and Santos has thought ‘I need to leave you out’.”
