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The story
Portugal, playing without Cristiano Ronaldo, have won their first four matches of the UEFA Nations League. In the October 4 clash with Norway, they conceded a stunning goal to defender Ajer in the first half, but Cancelo’s long-range strike leveled the score before Portugal completed a 2-1 comeback win. Meanwhile, the Netherlands — in Xavi’s debut as a national team manager after stints at Barcelona and Bayern — also picked up their second win. Opinions in the thread were split between “the team actually works better without Ronaldo” and “it’s too early to judge since they haven’t faced any strong opponents yet,” and the discussion also branched out into comparisons of Ronaldo’s and Messi’s career records.
〈UEFA Nations League〉 ◇ October 4 (October 5 Japan time) ◇ League A, Groups 2 & 4, Matchday 4
In Group 4, Portugal (FIFA ranking 5th), playing without Cristiano Ronaldo, came from behind to beat Norway (ranked 19th) 2-1, extending their winning streak to four matches to open the tournament.
In the 36th minute of the first half, Norway’s Ajer scored a jaw-dropping goal from a set piece. But two minutes later, Portugal answered right back when Cancelo, receiving a long throw-in, unleashed a powerful long-range strike.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
What do you mean by that?
At the World Cup, the team was awful as a unit even without Ronaldo.
For a club, maybe, but doing this to the national team is just too disappointing.
Even at club level he's pulled Edmundo-level dumb stunts, like getting fired over leaking information. (Edmundo — Brazilian striker notorious for erratic, scandal-prone behavior)
Even if Ronaldo comes back, he should just be a 15-minute sub when they're behind.
That's creepy.
Explain yourself.
You can't judge anything from matches against weak or mid-tier countries alone.
If Ronaldo hadn't been around for the World Cup and the Euros, things probably would've turned out differently.
They won the Nations League before too, even with Ronaldo on the team.
So it's not really related then.
Cris Ronal's amazing, but Messi's like three tiers above him.
Probably because he's never won or performed well outside the Euros.
Saying he's on Messi's level is way overrated lol
Their goal counts were just close — there's no comparing their actual contribution to matches.
Look at the other stats and it's obvious.
Xavi — the Xavi from the Xavi-and-Iniesta duo.
So it really was that Xavi after all, huh… But whyyy though? The Orange nation (Netherlands)?
Cruyff → Pep → Xavi.
So in a way, Cruyff's philosophy has come back home to the Netherlands.
The Nations League's always a bit questionable in terms of how serious or high-intensity it really is, so it's not that reliable a reference point.
This is what happens when you get the timing of your exit wrong.
Cristiano's never really worked for the national team to begin with — you have to build a whole "Cristiano system" around him at club level.
Portugal: strongest in the Nations League.
Kazu's just doing his own thing at club level lol
But at the World Cup that's no joke lol
Cristiano's thing was explosiveness.
His burst of speed was just insane.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Unlike the World Cup or the European Championship, the UEFA Nations League has a wide gap in strength between competing nations, and so far Portugal’s matches — including this one against Norway — have mostly been against opponents who aren’t quite evenly matched, with clashes against top-tier teams still to come. That’s why the thread was split between the view that “the team is more cohesive without Ronaldo” and the view that “the opposition level has been too low to draw any real conclusions,” with no consensus reached. There were also several replies asking to confirm “wait, is this the Xavi from Barcelona?” — showing that many readers weren’t aware this is his first stint as a national team manager since stepping down from club management. The Ronaldo-vs-Messi comparison, meanwhile, is the kind of topic that resurfaces in nearly every thread like this one, and while the back-and-forth over their respective records continued here too, no new conclusion was reached.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] European NL: Portugal, without C. Ronaldo, tops the group with 4 straight wins; Xavi-managed Netherlands picks up second win“.
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