Photo : Getty Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal won the 2016 European Championship, so they’re not not likely to make a deep push in the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will likely advance out of their group, alongside Spain, and they could make it even further into the knockout rounds with some luck. But Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal won’t win the whole thing. Why? Glad you asked: Advertisement Jokes aside (though Ronaldo’s and Messi’s crews could very conceivably meet in the quarterfinals...), Portugal have a few major problems. Their primary worry should be their defense, which is a total mystery. Aside from Pepe, who plays for Turkish club Beşiktaş, it’s unclear who will be filling in the backline. None of the available options are great. Bruno Alves had a miserable season at Rangers; Cédric Soares’s Southampton barely avoided relegation; José Fonte flopped at West Ham and now plays in China; Mário Rui became a starter at Napoli this past season but only because the first-stringer got injured; Borussia Dortmund’s Raphaël Guerreiro is talented but missed much of last season with injuries; Ricardo Pereira is promising but unproven at this level; and Rúben Dias is a 21-year-old who just recently made his international debut. The defense that was so solid during the Euro-winning run two years ago is in much worse condition now. Also worth noting is that two of the heroes of Portugal’s 2016 Euro title won’t be heading to Russia with their compatriots. One Euro stud-turned-World Cup snubee is the darling Renato Sanches. Sanches was just 18 when he broke onto the scene at that tournament, but he hasn’t come close to progressing the way everyone thought he would’ve. He was signed by Bayern Munich in 2016, failed to make an impression there, was then sent on loan to Swansea City of all places where he was similarly ineffective, and he will now reportedly be loaned back to Benfica this summer. Sanches is still really young, so there’s plenty of time for him to get back on track and eventually turn into the world-beater he was predicted to be just a couple short years ago. Unfortunately for him, he won’t have the World Cup as a platform to springboard back to where he belongs. The other hero from two years ago who missed the roster cut this time is Éder, the man who scored the extra-time goal in the 2016 Euro final. Éder has never been a particularly good player and only got a Euro call-up because the other Portuguese striker options were even worse, so it’s ultimately a good thing that he was left home this summer. Still, the absence of 2016 Euro squad members like Éder and Sanches and Nani and André Gomes means this team is much different than the one that achieved the glory of two years ago. Their replacements are probably better players, but it’s not likely to result in a better tournament. Roster Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), Rui Patrício (Unsigned) Defenders: Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cédric Soares (Southampton), José Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Mário Rui (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (Porto/Leicester), Rúben Dias (Benfica) Advertisement Midfielders: Adrien Silva (Leicester), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), João Mario (West Ham), João Moutinho (Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv), William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon) Forwards: André Silva (AC Milan), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon), Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas) Advertisement Nickname A Seleçao das Quinas (Selection of the Portugal coat of arms) FIFA Ranking 4 Manager Fernando Santos How They Play This is the big question facing Portugal at the World Cup. How will they approach their matches in light of their victory at the Euros two years ago and everything that’s changed since then? Advertisement In 2016, Portugal were the model example of a savvy international team. Which is to say, they played in the most godforsakenly boring way imaginable. The smart money on the international scene is to worry more about not giving up a goal than about scoring one yourself, which makes sense because you can still win via penalties even if you never score. And especially for teams outside the outrageously deep and talented soccer supercountries of Brazil, Spain, Germany, and France, it’s easier to win by training a group of mediocre-to-good players in the art of hard-nosed defending than by trying to pretend those mediocre-to-good guys are Zidanes or Ronaldinhos who can dance past an entire team by themselves and score. Portugal manager Fernando Santos understood this, and set his team up to capitalize on that strategy. Portugal’s back line barely inched ahead of their penalty area and their midfield was similarly defensively minded. Portugal often started matches in a 4-4-2 formation with four box-to-box central midfielders who specialized in running their legs into the ground. For the eight players behind the speedy front two, the primary task was to prevent the goalkeeper from even needing to make a save. Advertisement Santos’s strategy in 2016 was effective, even if it still took quite a bit of luck for Portugal to get their hands on the trophy. It was also the most sensible strategy available, since the Portuguese squad wasn’t really equipped to play any other way. That’s no longer the case this year. Besides Ronaldo, the Euro-winning Portugal squad didn’t have any other reliable attacking options. Things have changed drastically in just the two years since then. Today, Portugal’s strength is unquestionably in the attacking department. Manchester City creative wizard Bernardo Silva, powerful Valencia winger Gonçalo Guedes, Sporting’s speedy wide player Gelson Martins, and AC Milan striker André Silva are arguably Portugal’s four best non-Ronaldo players. An attack-minded Portugal team could easily run all over any defense in the world with all that speed, creativity, and finishing ability in the legs of those four young upstarts plus Ronaldo. Letting a few of those guys loose from the start would make for a wildly entertaining and, more importantly, incredibly dangerous attacking style. Advertisement Given how they played in qualifiers and recent friendlies, it looks like Santos’s Portugal is sticking to the old strategy. But if it doesn’t work out for them in the early going—if Portugal loses to Spain in their opener, for example—Santos could rip up that game plan and focus more on the attack. Players to Watch Cristiano Ronaldo Everybody already knows about Cristiano Ronaldo, about how he’s one of the greatest goalscorers to have ever lived, about how even at 33 years old and with gradually slipping athleticism and stamina he still manages put up an unbelievable number of goals and big-game performances exactly when they’re needed most. Advertisement What’s more interesting than yet another detailing of how late-career Ronaldo plays is looking at how Ronaldo thinks—specifically, how he thinks about this World Cup. Few players in any sport have navigated their careers with as intent an eye on their positioning in the game’s all-time hierarchy as Ronaldo has, and even fewer have put together as sterling a body of work as CR7. Ronaldo has scored all the goals, won all the trophies several times over, has been honored with statues and statues, and has no reason to look in envy at any other soccer player’s statistics and accolades. At 33 years old, coming off three consecutive Champions League titles and the favorite to accept a third consecutive Ballon d’Or award, Ronaldo has to realize that while the end of his career is nearing, the things he’s accomplished have made him immortal. And yet there’s still the World Cup, the one tournament he’s yet to conquer. Ronaldo did feature prominently for a Portugal side that made an impressive run to the semifinals back in 2006, but Ronaldo wasn’t Ronaldo yet then. His next two World Cups weren’t especially notable one way or the other. This time, in what will be his last chance to leave a lasting mark on the biggest sporting event in the world while still in his prime, Ronaldo has to be salivating at the opportunity before him.<doc-sep>Surrounded by doubts about his future at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo is bringing some unwanted distraction to Portugal ahead of the World Cup. Ronaldo joined Portugal's squad on Monday, with just about everyone wondering what he will say about his situation with Real Madrid. For the second straight year, Ronaldo linking with the national team is being marred by talks about his club. The same thing happened before the Confederations Cup, when a Portuguese daily published a report saying Ronaldo wanted to leave Real Madrid after being accused of tax fraud in Spain. This time, it was Ronaldo himself who raised doubts about his future, saying moments after the Champions League final that it ''was very beautiful'' to have played with the Spanish club. Ronaldo said he would reveal his future plans when he joined the national team, and that time has arrived, putting the spotlight on the star forward and not so much on Portugal's World Cup preparations. Ronaldo practiced on Monday but didn't speak to the media. ''He is very strong mentally,'' Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho said. ''This is not going to affect any of our players. We are all focused on what we need to do here with the national team. It's the only thing that matters.'' Ronaldo joined Portugal later than the other players because of the Champions League final. The defending European champions have already played two World Cup warmup matches, drawing with Tunisia 2-2 and with Belgium 0-0. The team's final friendly will be against Algeria on Thursday, when Ronaldo will likely be available to boost the attack. A five-time world player of the year, Ronaldo has a contract with Madrid until 2021. But he and his agents could be seeking a salary increase in a market that has boomed since Neymar's record transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. Madrid president Florentino Perez has always made Ronaldo a priority, and this time his importance to the club could be even greater after coach Zinedine Zidane decided to quit and with Gareth Bale also possibly on his way out. Story continues Since Ronaldo's comments after the Champions League final, there have been widespread rumors about him joining PSG or returning to Manchester United. Last year's report in Portuguese media said Ronaldo's decision to leave Madrid was ''irreversible,'' but he continued with the Spanish club and helped it win a fourth Champions League title in five seasons. Ronaldo has not hidden his discontentment with the tax fraud accusations in Spain. Last week, not long after he hinted his time with Madrid was over, reports emerged in Spanish media that his offer to make a deal with the country's tax authorities had been rejected, handing him another disappointing setback. Ronaldo was accused of defrauding tax authorities of 14.7 million euros ($17.1 million) from 2011-14. Prosecutors accused him of using a shell company in the Virgin Islands to hide the true amount of income made from image rights, among other irregularities, to reduce the amount of tax he paid. Ronaldo and his agents have denied any wrongdoing. --- More AP World Cup coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/WorldCup --- Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni<doc-sep>Follow the major changes at the Nou Camp in our FREE Barca newsletter Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Cristiano Ronaldo is being protected from threats, including ISIS terrorists, by a man who challenges half-tonne bulls with his bare hands. Shaven-headed strongman Nuno Marecos helped keep the star safe at the recent Champions League final in Kiev. The former elite paratrooper is expected to keep watch over Cristiano at the World Cup alongside an MMA fighter called Goncalo Salgado. When he is not looking after the Real Madrid striker, Nuno leads a group of men based in the town of Chamusca a 70 mile drive from Lisbon who entertain crowds in bullfights during their free time. The ballsy men form a line facing the bull and risk injury and death by encouraging it to charge them before grabbing hold of the animal and trying to overpower it using their combined strength. (Image: PA) Eight men - known as forcados - use their muscle and intelligence to subdue the bull. Nuno is the leader of his group and as the first man to face the bull, the one whose job it is to egg the animal on to get it to charge before grabbing hold of the its head and holding onto its neck while his team pile in. Any mistiming could have dramatic consequences. Forcados like Nuno have ended up in comas because of injuries. The art they practice - which dates back nearly 100 years - is called pega de cara which translates into English as ‘face catch’ - and is usually the final event in a typical Portuguese bullfight. Unlike in Spain where matadors plunge their swords into bulls, the animals are not killed in front of the crowd in Portugal. It emerged earlier this year ISIS had threatened to behead Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the World Cup in chilling mocked-up photos. (Image: Goncalo Salgado/Instagram) (Image: Facebook) The photos showed the football stars pinned to the ground by masked jihadis in a packed football stadium. The vile picture, released on app Telegram and captioned, ‘Your blood will fill the ground’ showed the extremists hacking at the footballers’ heads. Ronaldo is currently holidaying with his son Cristiano Jr and girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez in Marbella before he joins up with the Portugal squad. The 33-year-old was stopped from scoring in the Champions League final by a pitch invader who tried to tackle him but was hauled away by security at the last minute. Nuno Marecos - full name Nuno Da Cruz Marecos - is on the books of a Portuguese private security firm run by an ex-spy. An MMA fighter called Goncalo Salgado who also works for the same company is expected to join the bullfighter in helping to keep Cristiano safe at the World Cup. The 6ft 2im man mountain, who has protected star surfers like Kelly Slater and Gabriel Medina in the past, was also pictured keeping watch on the footballer in Kiev last month. (Image: REUTERS) Records show he has won seven fights with five KOs and lost two as a super heavyweight between 2006 and 2011. He still works out regularly, posting pictures of him lifting heavy weights on social media. Nuno Marecos, who comes from the city of Almeirim just over an hour’s drive north of Lisbon, describes himself as single on social media. He is thought to have learnt a lot of the skills he now puts to use when he watches over Cristiano as a Portuguese Paratrooper. He also describes himself as a former Director of Security at Lisbon Airport. After putting his life on the line last year at a bullfight, he said: “We give everything we can to help each other. “Only through this spirit of friendship and a lot of admiration for the bull, are we able to triumph and do things that we often only dream about.”<doc-sep>
Name: Cristiano Ronaldo Country: Portugal Position: Forward FIFA World Cup appearances: 13 FIFA World Cup goals: 3 There are few players in world football who are as influential as Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner guided Real Madrid to their third UEFA Champions League title this season and now, he will set his sights on the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2018. (Full schedule of FIFA World Cup 2018) However, Ronaldo’s goal-scoring record in the football extravaganza is not something that Portuguese fans will be happy with. Ronaldo made his World Cup debut in 2006 under the guidance of head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and played six games as his country reached the semi-finals, ultimately finishing fourth. Although he was mainly employed in the wings, he got his debut goal in the group stage match against Iran. READ | Unknown today, superstars tomorrow: youngsters who took the FIFA World Cup by storm However, the then Manchester United footballer became ‘public enemy number one’ in England after he played a role in Wayne Rooney’s red card during their quarter-final encounter. Portugal ended up winning the match on penalties and Ronaldo was accused of play-acting by a number of experts. The 2010 and 2014 editions also turned out to be quite disappointing for the forward who had already established himself as one of the most dominant footballers in the world. READ | FIFA World Cup 2018: Football greats ready for final flourish Ronaldo’s exploits for Manchester United and Real Madrid made him a demi-god in the world of football, but the lack of international success was always a major blot of the otherwise pristine career. However, the long awaited success finally came in 2016 when he guided Portugal to their maiden European Championship title. With three goals and three assists, he led his team by example and his goal against Wales in the semi-final was one of the highlights of the tournament. READ | Meet the players who make the FIFA World Cup the stage for the beautiful game In the final, he was sidelined within the first 25 minutes due to injury but he kept motivating his team from the sidelines and his actions convinced a lot of experts that he can be a successful team manager in the future. Ronaldo is currently 33 years old and with the amount of physical exertion needed in the modern sport, this can be his final World Cup. But, the forward is enjoying a great run of form and this is probably the best chance for him to add a FIFA World Cup to his huge list of accomplishments.