The Cristiano Ronaldo relevance saga prolongs with Nations League goals

The 134th international goal could be among the most precious ones of his career – his first in the final of a major tournament. He has quietened the taunt that he has never scored in the knockouts of a meaningful international tournament (zero goals in knockouts after five World Cups and seven European Championships still), that he freezes in big games for his country (he did net the winner against Germany in the semifinal earlier this week as well), and muted the critics who believe he is inhibiting a gloriously-gifted team from achieving its full scale of potential. It was a personal redemption of sorts that could revitalise his World Cup winning ambitions, the burning purpose for his international existence.

Quarter-final ⚽️
Semi-final ⚽️
Final ⚽️

Cristiano Ronaldo, big-game player 🔥#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/Xc8jC6zzZ6

— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) June 9, 2025

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Ronaldo needs the World Cup triumph to round off his golden career, but whether Portugal needs him for the mega event has been a question swirling since the last one. His performance in the Nations League offered causes for both his critics and supporters. After his goalless Euro, he has rediscovered his scoring touch, belting 10 in 15 games, and most significantly against the top-tier nations (among them Spain, Germany, and Croatia).

There is little doubting his anticipation and his movements, to be present at the right place at the right time, to make the run towards a space where he thinks the ball would go, and latch onto the gifts of the wondrous creators around him. Feeding him through balls and crosses have been Roberto Martinez’s default strategy to make Ronaldo look relevant, to maximise the gifts he still possesses. He has lost his explosive acceleration, pace and the trademark leap. Him leaping under the ball is a common sight, as is the case of him being blocked behind a clearing defender. But he is still among the best finishers in the game, bulging the next with every fourth shy. Ronaldo had a lovely interplay with Pedro Neto for the opening goal, showing his control in tight spaces. He possesses the goal-scoring prowess to be retained in the team. He has energy and zest, a genuine effort to make things happen.

But for much of the game, one of the greatest athletes in history was reduced to the most important spectator in the stadium, unable to participate in the build-up play, unable to match the pace of his teammates, or those of his opponents. He occupied the central channels, occasionally dropped deep, pressed as rigorously as he could. But everything he did was a fraction off the pace, a split-second slower, middle-aged legs spluttering amidst youthful limbs. He did not register a shot on goal in the first hour, was late to the crosses from the flanks and after early excursions, the wingers too stopped feeding him, aware of its futility. The referee bore the brunt of his ire, as he frequently engaged him in arguments. He was almost off-side in Portugal’s first equaliser, saved by a defender’s boot. He flicked the ear of Spanish midfielder Mikel Oyarzabal after VAR confirmed Portugal’s first equaliser.

If Ronaldo watched his performance either side of the goal, he would lament at the passing of his youth. He is not what he once was. He is aware too, and hence the increasingly flimsy histrionics. Recently, he posted a video saying that some tests revealed that his biological age is still 29 and joked that he could play competitive football in his 50s too. He still scores a bucketful of goals, important goals too. So why shouldn’t he play till he nudges into his 50s?

He brings back the eternal argument, about the balance between individual attainment and collective success. As prolific as Ronaldo is in front of the goal, producing the most definitive metric in the game, he is limiting the collective powers of his ultra-talented teammates. To accommodate Ronaldo, the rest of Martinez’s crew have to log in extra shifts, which could leave them knackered in a long tournament. They have to slow the game down, even sacrifice the goal on the altar of the country’s most famous footballer. Take him out and the group transforms into a dynamic side that could swat adversaries around. In the early days of Martinez’s tenure, he struggled to fit the individual star into the collective scheme. But in the Nations League, he struck a finer balance. The team’s sole intention is not to ping crosses into the centre of the boxes, as it was during the Euros last year, but to mix the game up. Martinez has figuratively decentralised Ronaldo’s role, but is convinced that he should start, given he is fully fit.

There is a paradox in this. There is a whole paradox to the Ronaldo situation in the national side. Ronaldo is still the team’s figurehead, but not the most central one. He is raging against the dying light, but there is still light left to sparkle. He makes lives complex for those around him, but he solves the most complex problem in the game too. That is to score goals. Like those in the final and semi-final of the Nations League, which were both a benediction and a vindication that he still matters, to his team and the world. And an escape route to the World Cup, his last shot at the trophy that would consummate his footballing journey.