Ronaldo fanboy Ferdinand ‘annoyed’ at critics for ‘judging him’ in only rational way

As Cristiano Ronaldo flounced out of the Portugal camp and on to his private jet on Wednesday we waited for Rio Ferdinand’s take on the incident, not because we couldn’t guess his brown-nosing stance, but because we’re fascinated by how a man who watches a lot of football and at least purports to know plenty about it, can continue to go out to bat for someone so clearly and so far past their best.

Ronaldo was an unused substitute in Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League win over Norway on Sunday after being dropped from the starting lineup by new manager Jorge Jesus following what was by all accounts a performance of no merit whatsoever in their first victory of the campaign, a 1-0 win over Wales three days before. We’ve seen innumerable further examples of such performances in at least his last two years for Portugal.

Reports suggested there was a ‘crisis meeting’ between Ronaldo, Jesus and Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) president Pedro Proenca after the game and Jesus insisted ahead of their clash with Denmark that “there is nothing to make a fuss about”.

“There was no incident whatsoever,” he said. “Any player – and I was a player myself – when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don’t get on, no-one is happy about that.

“Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It’s nothing to make a fuss about. If everything goes according to plan [against Denmark], it will be Goncalo who plays.

“If I need [Ronaldo], he’ll come on. If I don’t need him, he won’t.”

It’s a wonder he didn’t recognise that if there’s one footballer in the history of the game who was definitely going to “make a fuss” it was Ronaldo after managing him for a season at Al Nassr. And sure enough…

‘After the press conference of the national team coach, and following a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have decided to leave the national team camp,’ Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.

‘In due time, I will tell the truth to all Portuguese people about the reasons that motivated my departure from the national team, to which I have always devoted myself.

‘Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my team-mates good luck, without exception.’

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo makes perfect exit thanks to limelight thieves Manchester City

Ronaldo’s sister then said the country ‘deserved to return to mediocrity’ over their lack of respect for Cristiano, and Ferdinand has also questioned where Portugal were before CR7 arrived as their saviour.

“Where were Portugal before Cristiano Ronaldo? What have they ever done? Did they even qualify for tournaments? Let alone win anything.”

Six of the nine times Portugal have qualified for the World Cup came after Ronaldo’s debut and, again, six of the nine European Championship qualifications came with the help of Ronaldo, who also helped them to win Euro 2016 and the Nations League in 2019 and 2025.

He helped them to qualify for and win those tournaments. It’s also perfectly reasonable to say he was the most important player for most of the period he represented the national team.

But here’s the point that Ferdinand and the other Ronaldo fanboys just cannot grasp – he’s not that guy anymore.

“What annoys me is that many people judge him on his last three or four years,” Ferdinand said.

How else are we or Jorge Jesus supposed to judge him? Maybe Thomas Tuchel should have taken Raheem Sterling to the World Cup because he was still good four years ago.

“He is still producing fantastic numbers for someone of his age,” he added. “It doesn’t matter which league that is in, they are still fantastic numbers.”

What a ridiculous thing to say – of course it matters. Where does it end? If he can’t get to 1000 goals at Al-Nassr will he find an even less taxing league to continue his stat-padding in his obsessive bid to outdo Lionel Messi?

And Ferdinand also accidentally landed on another reason why Ronaldo should categorically not be playing for Portugal anymore – “for someone of his age”. 41 is very clearly too old in Ronaldo’s case.

“I think a lot of people need to go back in time for a moment… Look at his time at Juventus, what he did there. His time at Real Madrid. And his time at Manchester United. It’s as if he has crammed three careers into one. Three world-class careers,” Ferdinand concluded.

Why do we need to go back? We’re not saying he wasn’t an unbelievable goalscorer; one of the best ever to play the game. But he left Juventus five years ago. Just let it go. He’s done. Let’s all move on.