Arsenal legend Paul Merson has urged Portugal to take the difficult decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for the start of Euro 2024.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest forwards in football history, Ronaldo will be playing at his sixth European Championships when Euro 2024 begins in Germany.
Ronaldo have spent the last 18 months at Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, where he has scored 64 goals in 70 appearances. He will also be going into the tournament as Portugal’s greatest-ever player with 206 caps and 128 goals.
Despite his achievement for club and country, Merson believes Ronaldo should start the tournament from the bench and only come into the side once Portugal’s qualification to the knockout stages has been secured.
Assessing Portugal’s chances of winning the Euros, Merson told Sportskeeda: ‘Portugal are an aging team but they have a lot of experience within the squad.
‘There’s too much individual quality for them not to gel together as a unit, so I think they’ll fare quite well at Euro 2024.
‘With Pepe and Ruben Dias at the back, they are defensively strong and there is a lot of guile in midfield, while they are blessed with devastating pace and goals upfront.
‘Bruno Fernandes is a top-class footballer and should play a starring role for Portugal, while Cristiano Ronaldo is still with the squad despite entering the twilight years of his career.
‘He’s still their captain and banging in the goals in Saudi Arabia, but I think they’ll see what he’s like in the camp and take a call on his selection.
‘I would personally leave him out of the first two league games and get qualification sorted before bringing him back for the final encounter.
‘If he plays well, he can keep his spot and that’s the right way to go about it as it’s a massive jump for someone to come into the European championships after playing at such a lesser standard in Saudi.’
Roberto Martinez’s side are placed in Group F and they kick-start their Euros campaign on June 18 against Czech Republic, before completing the group stage against Turkey and Georgia.
