'The dream was beautiful, as long as it lasted," wrote Cristiano Ronaldo to his Instagram followers on December 11, 2022. "Unfortunately, that dream ended yesterday." Above was a picture of Portugal's captain and record appearance-maker trudging off the field at Qatar's AI Thumama Stadium, after his country's 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Aged 37, the crestfallen forward was referring solely to his dream of lifting a World Cup as a player, yet those reading could be forgiven for thinking he actually meant his status as a Portugal player.
It had been a rough month. On the eve of his record-equalling fifth finals appearance, CR7 had agreed to the termination of his Manchester United contract following a spectacularly self-indulgent interview with professional blowhard Piers Morgan that focused on talk of "betrayal" and "lack of respect" shown him by the club and boss Erik ten Hag. Worse still, as a decaying Ronaldo proved increasingly unwilling to recognise his own footballing mortality, rival Lionel Messi had scratched his own World Cup itch.
In Qatar, Ronaldo scored in Portugal's opening match against Ghana, but his reaction to being substituted in the third group game against South Korea drew his manager's ire. "You're in a f**king hurry to sub me off," Ronaldo reportedly snapped at Fernando Santos of the 65th-minute swap.
Santos admitted he "didn't like it one bit" and dropped his skipper for the last 16 clash with Switzerland, the first time in his career CR7 started a knockout game on the bench. Ronaldo's replacement, the younger and more mobile Goncalo Ramos, scored a hattrick as the Selecao rolled the Swiss 6-1.
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