Portugal made it to the last eight of the European tournament in a thrilling journey, however, the performance of its captain C Ronaldo has sparked heated debate. The 39-year-old had been spilling tears onto the green pitch as he missed a succession of good chances during the game. Recently, a series of embarrassing statistics have been uncovered, and it seems that every penalty kick for Portugal has long been predetermined. In the international arena, 60 penalty only one ball into the net, Portugal's domestic media called for the use of C Lang in the game against France, in order to avoid a repeat of the Qatar World Cup.
Opta's data shows that Cron managed to score on all four of his penalties in the Round of 16 against Slovenia. However, Cron has scored a pitiful 1.7% of his last 60 penalties, with his one build-up against Spain in the group stage in 2018 being one of his few highlights. There is no shortage of penalty takers in the Portugal squad, such as Manchester United midfielder Nandis, but Cron's performances have been disappointing.
England star Shuria said, "Cron has great penalty-killing teammates, but are others willing to handle penalties the way he does? It's too difficult." Another legendary striker, Leniga, agreed: "Ordinary Nandis is better than Cron, more versatile as a penalty taker, and even though Cron is a good No. 9, he is Portugal's weakness."
This year, Cron was dubbed the "King of Missed Chances" for the European national team, failing to score despite having 20 chances on offense. His xG was -2.75, making him the worst performer. There was a renewed wave of disparagement of Cron in the Portuguese domestic media, with renowned CNN reporter Sofia Oliveira questioning, "Does anyone doubt Cron? He was not chosen as a regular because of his family's ability, but based on his contribution to Portugal.Cron is a great player, but nowadays he doesn't seem to be able to handle being a starter for the national team."
Cron's current form is similar to when he played in the Qatar World Cup two years ago. At that time, he performed well in the group stage but was criticized. With so many Chinese players, there was a lot of talk about him "stepping down". He was indeed replaced in the knockout rounds, but the team eventually lost in the last eight. Portugal's leader Martinez has been supporting Cron since he took over. This year, Cron has only played 24 minutes, and in the face of domestic public opinion pressure, the focus is once again on whether or not Martinez will continue to insist on using Cron.
