Why Cristiano Ronaldo may still be the ‘weak link’ for Portugal
Why Cristiano Ronaldo may still be the ‘weak link’ for PortugalChristian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans debate the impact of the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Portugal’s knockout round matchup with Croatia. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.2:34Now PlayingPaused
Is Cristiano Ronaldo a weakness for Portugal at age 41?2:33Now PlayingPaused
Ronaldo held scoreless as Portugal draws with Colombia in final group stage match3:07Now PlayingPaused
Will Cristiana Ronaldo ‘kick on’ after a brace against Uzbekistan?1:47Now PlayingPaused
Portugal-Uzbekistan Preview: Can Portugal get a win?2:58Now PlayingPaused
Key players for Portugal against Uzbekistan1:50Now PlayingPaused
How Ronaldo's selfish play is hurting Portugal's World Cup chances3:10Now PlayingPaused
Portugal-Croatia Preview: Will Croatia ‘muddy’ things up?1:18Now PlayingPausedWhy hasn't it worked out for Ronaldo and Portugal?1:14Now PlayingPaused
Is This The Best Squad Portugal Has Ever Had?0:56Now PlayingPaused
Why Cristiano Ronaldo may still be the ‘weak link’ for Portugal
Alexis Guerreros·Christian PolancoWed, July 1, 2026 at 5:22 PM UTCChristian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans debate the impact of the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Portugal’s knockout round matchup with Croatia. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
AdvertisementAdvertisementVideo Transcript
Either they think it's an agenda, or they think it's, that it's, it's actually the midfielder's fault for not giving the proper service to Cristiano Ronaldo.
I- This is ridiculous.
I can't- Look at this midfield, y'all You got Joo Flix, say what you want, Bruno Fernandes, he's already, he knows how to pass to him.
Yeah.
You got Neto, you got Joo Neves, you got Vitinha.
This is a legendary generational midfield.
The b- the weak point is the 40-year-old who runs in, in place- in the way of other people's shots- I- and doesn't run other times I think, you know- This is ridiculous.
I, I, it's, it's, you know, we- we're getting a lot of comments, like, "Are you guys even watching the game?"
AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd it's like, when you look at the data, you look at the stats, how many, how many touches of the ball does Cristiano Ronaldo even get?
How many passes does he complete?
I, I saw a thing, he, he completed less passes than the goalkeeper for Colombia.
Hilarious.
Which is, that's crazy.
Like, and m- and, and it's, maybe it is the midfielders.
Maybe it is.
Let's say we, we- What, how much more?
You know what it is?
You know what?
No.
I'm gonna say this.
Comments, you're right, it is the midfielders.
Because they're unfortunately forcing passes to Cristiano Ronaldo versus making the correct pass.
I- Because you know why?
AdvertisementAdvertisementThey don't wanna deal with his ego and his attitude- after the game.
I was saying the, the, the thing I think is, and you know, I said this in the last show, where, the Portugal/Colombia, I said the, I don't think his teammates trust him with the ball.
And maybe that ma- maybe that is the reason that they're not really passing to him.
Maybe it's also that Thierry Henry is right and he's not a nine, and he's not making the movements a nine should.
Maybe, that.
So when you have incredible talents like Vitinha or Neto running into a certain spot and looking up to where the striker's supposed to be, they don't see one there.
AdvertisementAdvertisementYeah.
And maybe that's it.
And maybe it's not that they're not getting good service, it's that the guy's not in the right spot.
It's a game of teammates, it's not a game of individuals.
I, I, it's, it's so odd to me that everybody's like, "No, it's the, it's the other 10 players' fault."
It's not- Yeah his fault.
When Messi won the World Cup last time, what did all the Ronaldo fans say?
"Oh, they had to, they had to do it so, they had to cheat so that he could win.
They gave it, it was rigged."
You guys will make any excuse- for this, for this freaking guy.
And by the way, he doesn't know who you are and he doesn't care, all right?
He's not gonna let you drive his Porsche.
It's so strange.
yeah, he's- It's, the gla- the Ronaldo glazing is insane.
May you like
I mean, he's clearly, like, the weak link on the team, and I, I can't understand how everybody, not even everybody, but I can't understand- Most a good amount of people are like, "No, it's the midfielders' fault- Yeah for not getting him the proper service."
They can't admit it to themselves, 'cause then they'd have to admit that they were lying or, or wrong this entire time.
- Why Cristiano Ronaldo may still be the ‘weak link’ for PortugalChristian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans debate the impact of the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner ahead of Portugal’s knockout round matchup with Croatia. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.2:34Now PlayingPaused
- Is Cristiano Ronaldo a weakness for Portugal at age 41?2:33Now PlayingPaused
- Ronaldo held scoreless as Portugal draws with Colombia in final group stage match3:07Now PlayingPaused
- Will Cristiana Ronaldo ‘kick on’ after a brace against Uzbekistan?1:47Now PlayingPaused
- Portugal-Uzbekistan Preview: Can Portugal get a win?2:58Now PlayingPaused
- Key players for Portugal against Uzbekistan1:50Now PlayingPaused
- How Ronaldo's selfish play is hurting Portugal's World Cup chances3:10Now PlayingPaused
- Portugal-Croatia Preview: Will Croatia ‘muddy’ things up?1:18Now PlayingPaused
