Cristiano Ronaldo is still having a perfect state of mind despite finding it impossible to stop Juventus from crashing out of the UEFA Champions League.
The coach of the Portuguese football icon at the national team level, Fernando Santos, said nothing is wrong with the mentality of the 36-year-old forward despite all the criticism he has suffered in the last couple of weeks.
The criticism against Cristiano Ronaldo became worsen when the Portuguese star did not score any goal in Juventus 3-2 win over Porto which was not enough to save the Italian club from crashing out of the Champions League.
He was also blamed for one of the goals Porto scored in the round of 16 because the free-kick that led to the goal passed through his legs while trying to assist in protecting the defense line of Juventus.
Also, on March 21, 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score a goal against lowly rated Benevento in a league game. The lowly rated club ended up beating Juventus 1-0 in Turin.
The fact that he couldn’t do much to keep Juventus in the Champions League and failed to save Juventus from the embarrassment of losing to lowly rated Benevento who played with a man down, gave the haters of Ronaldo more reasons to criticize him.
The criticism became so loud that the critics failed to recall that the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star has scored 23 league goals and provided 2 assists in 24 games this season. He has scored a total number of 30 goals and provided 4 assists in 34 games in all competitions for Juventus this season.
In a press conference ahead of Portugal’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan, coach Fernando Santos said Cristiano Ronaldo always brings his 100 percent to the national team.
“When Cristiano is with the national team, he always comes with the same vision, the same passion, the same will, the same joy,” Santos said.
“He always gives 100 percent when he comes to the national team. I don’t think he has any problem in terms of mentality at the moment.”
𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐋!🇵🇹❤️ pic.twitter.com/lX3bGfyMpb
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) March 23, 2021
Fernando Santos has a say in the future of Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Juventus will come to an end on June 30, 2022. The club has insisted that they intend to keep the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner at the club a bit longer.
However, there are reports that the Portuguese football icon could return to Real Madrid anytime soon, a report Madrid are yet to debunk.
In reaction to the speculation surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, Portugal national team coach, Fernando Santos says he is always open to advising the 36-year-old football icon.
“I advise Cristiano personally. I was his head coach when he was 18, and we have a close relationship,” Santos said.
“We talk a lot, but these are private conversations between friends. We don’t really have a coach-player relationship, but it is different when he is on the national team. If he asks me for any advice, I will let him know what I think.”
