Former Liverpool and Fulham star John Arne Riise believes that Portugal manager Roberto Martínez got the Cristiano Ronaldo situation wrong – because Ronaldo now holds Portugal back.
Ronaldo has revealed that he will not feature at the 2030 World Cup, but Riise urged him to retire now and miss the 2028 European Championships too.
Former Norway left-back Riise also believes that Germany’s poor campaign makes the team the biggest flops of the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, USA and Canada.
Riise was in Miami to see Saturday’s crunch quarter-final clash between England and Norway, which the Three Lions won 2-1 to book a semi-final clash with Argentina on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo situation sad
During an exclusive chat with BestBettingSites, Riise said of Portugal talisman Ronaldo: “I know the Portugal coach loves Ronaldo, but I think the whole Ronaldo situation at this World Cup was quite sad.
“At one point he wasn’t scoring, then he says he’s back after scoring a couple of goals and then he disappears again.
“I don’t think Roberto Martínez managed the situation the right way.
“He should have shown a stronger hand and prioritised the team over the individual player.”
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Call it quits
Riise continued: “I don’t think Ronaldo will be ready for the Euros nor do I think he’s currently good enough to play for Portugal at that level.
“He should call it a day internationally and hand over the opportunity to the younger players.
“Modern football is incredibly demanding physically; you need all 11 players running and fighting for the team, unless you are [Lionel] Messi.
“Ronaldo doesn’t do that anymore, and I think his inclusion weakens the Portuguese team rather than helping it.”
Disappointed in Germany
When asked who he thought was the biggest flop at the 2026 World Cup, Riise added: “If we’re talking about teams, I think Germany.
“I was really disappointed by how they played football.
“It didn’t look like the typical German team we are used to seeing in major tournaments.
“When it comes to individual players, it’s hard because expectations are always so high, and I don’t want to single anyone out.
“So I’ll stick with Germany as the biggest disappointment based on how I expected them to perform.”
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