Ronaldo Must Improve Tournament Fortunes to Star at Euro 2016

With Euro 2016 rapidly approaching, some are already turning their attentions to who will finish the tournament as top goalscorer. A total of 11 players across Europe’s top five leagues, the Eredivisie, Super Lig and Russian Premier League who scored 20 or more league goals last season will be involved for their national team in France this summer, though the favourite to secure the Golden Boot award is Cristiano Ronaldo.  

The Portugal international, whose penalty secured Real Madrid the Champions League last month, enjoyed yet another hugely prolific season for the Spanish giants, netting 35 league goals last term; only Luis Suarez (40) bagged more in La Liga. Ronaldo will carry the hopes of the nation on his shoulders in France, but given his mental fortitude, this us unlikely to affect his unwavering confidence this summer.  

Instead, Ronaldo is likely to be driven on in his pursuit of the Golden Boot for the national team this summer as he - along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic - strives to become the first player to score in four different European Championships. While Portugal are far from favourites to lift the trophy, Ronaldo will be out to improve his relatively underwhelming record at major international tournaments. In 29 World Cup and European Championship appearances, the 31-year-old has just nine goals to his name.  

Granted, matches on the international stage are far more compact than club games, particularly at major tournaments, but a player of Ronaldo’s calibre should have a far better return in both competitions. However, he is burdened tremendously by Portugal’s lacklustre attack. Beyond Ronaldo, Fernando Santos’ options in the final third are thin on the ground. Nani may have enjoyed an impressive debut campaign for Fenerbahce - eight goals and eight assists contributed to the third best Super Lig rating (7.52) last season - but his inconsistency for the national side is an issue.  

Ricardo Quaresma may be an effective option, but - like Nani - is as likely to pull off a moment of magic as he is a moment of madness, while Rafa Silva’s inexperience in senior tournament football means Santos is short of top quality in the final third. All in all, Eder is the only lone striking option in the squad, but to his credit enjoyed a commendable second half to the campaign for Lille following a forgettable spell at Swansea. He, though, won’t start with Ronaldo in the side.  

Regardless of his reservations, Santos will use Ronaldo as the primary striker this summer, despite the player’s preference to play on the flank. Of course, it’s not an alien position for Ronaldo, who started nine league and Champions League fixtures for Real Madrid as the lead striker, but he favours cutting inside from the left wing before going for goal.  

With 39 league and European starts on the left returning 44 goals and 11 assists, it’s evidently an approach that works for his club. Despite starting Quaresma and Ronaldo in a two-man attack in the 7-0 thumping of Estonia on Wednesday, Santos will likely line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with the latter set to spearhead the attack. In arguably the easiest group of the tournament, Ronaldo should be confident of adding to his 58 goals from 126 caps for Portugal. However, while the national team comes into the tournament as favourites to top Group F, they can’t simply rest on their laurels.  

Austria, Hungary and Iceland conceded a combined 20 goals from 30 games in qualifying and are not to be taken lightly in France, but their defences’ will undoubtedly struggle to contain Ronaldo. Having been granted a leave of absence, along with Pepe, the Real Madrid star comes into the tournament well rested and prepared to add to his nine goals in the major international competitions.  

Two first half goals against Estonia in Portugal’s final friendly encounter before Euro 2016 bode well for the player and country and will undeniably boost confidence ahead of Tuesday’s opener with Iceland. Of course, Ronaldo isn’t a player who requires a morale boost at the best of times. He had more shots per game (6.3) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues last season, highlighting his drive for goal, both to the benefit of himself and his team.  

While last season wasn’t Ronaldo’s most prolific in La Liga, a 35-goal haul is still an outstanding feat regardless. He now needs to transfer his fine goalscoring form to the international stage, specifically in competitive action. It’s all well and good bagging a brace against the 94th best team in the world, according to FIFA’s ranking system, but Ronaldo needs to maintain his excellent form in order to help Portugal this summer.  

A Seleccao reached the final of the European Championship in 2004 only to fall to Greece at the final hurdle in Lisbon. Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes in the defeat and failed to hit the back of the net. He and Portugal will hope to go one step further this summer, but Ronaldo will need to better his goalscoring performances in international tournaments in order to progress so far.