After all the years of propping up Portugal, there is no more of Cristiano Ronaldo putting the national team on his back. Now, he is well into his victory lap. “Your happiness is our happiness, captain,” was Sport TV’s caption to a reel of his best bits from last week’s 3-0 friendly win over the Republic of Ireland. In previous tournaments, Ronaldo’s every micro-move was replete with nuance, potentially a gamechanger, but there is now less of a daily soap opera feel around the team. “I see quite a calm team, I don’t see anyone anxious,” Ronaldo told reporters on the squad’s arrival at their Euro 2024 base in Germany.
That calm was not extended to Portugal’s first public training session on German soil. For the workout at Gütersloh’s Heidewaldstadion on Friday 8,200 fans turned up, tickets were reputedly changing hands for up to €1,000 (£850) and, inevitably, Ronaldo was hugged and jostled by a series of pitch invaders. Ever since the captain became a bona fide megastar at Manchester United, almost two decades ago, there has been a circus-like aspect to Portugal at major tournaments. Regardless of the residual elite quality of the squad, the periods before, during and after Cristiano will be eras of starkly different shades.
