Morocco - Portugal: Ronaldo's focus

* Morocco - Portugal: 10pm today 10/12, on MetaSports.

After Lionel Messi shined, helping Argentina beat the Netherlands to reach the semi-finals, attention turned to Ronaldo. After more than 10 years of competing as the two brightest superstars, the 37-year-old striker is expected to respond.

Ronaldo actively attracted attention before the World Cup, by accusing the owner club of Man Utd of betrayal. He scored in the opening match, beat Ghana 3-2 and was awarded the Man of the Match award. When Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0, the audience was interested in whether FIFA would return the goal scored with hairs to Ronaldo. In the match against Korea, Ronaldo accidentally made a mistake that led to the goal and then expressed annoyance when being substituted.

In the 1/8 round, Ronaldo still attracted attention even though ... started the match on the bench. His replacement that day, Goncalo Ramos, scored a hat-trick and Portugal destroyed Switzerland 6-1 - the biggest victory of this round. After the match, Portuguese media reported that Ronaldo threatened coach Fernando Santos that he would leave the World Cup if he did not start. Others also think that Portugal is stronger without Ronaldo now.

Before Portugal's match against Morocco today, former team-mate Mesut Ozil defended Ronaldo. The former German midfielder believes that the media is taking advantage of negative information about Ronaldo to attract guests. But in the opposite direction, Ronaldo has borrowed the media to attract attention for himself, even in "ugly" ways. On the flip side of that, he created a hunger for sensational information about himself. Now, the audience is not only waiting to see Portugal play, but also waiting for the drama that Ronaldo can bring.

Messi is not like that. He made the media pay attention with his performance on the field. This way may not be as attractive as Ronaldo. But when Messi scored, assisted, fought, provoked opponents and most importantly, reached the semi-finals with Argentina, he revealed the clearest sides of himself. It is hard to imagine what Ronaldo will have to do tonight to regain the spotlight.

The best way, and the most awaited by fans, is for Ronaldo to score, to help Portugal continue, thereby maintaining the hope of an unprecedented heroic performance with Messi in the final. But after what has been shown since the beginning of the tournament in Qatar, the main kick may have been out of reach for the 37-year-old striker.

Coach Santos is likely to continue to trust Ramos, and Portugal can keep the frame in the 1/8 round. At that time, the opportunity will only come to Ronaldo from the bench.

However, the opportunity to play the role of a hero has not ended for the 37-year-old striker. The attack scored 12 goals - the most in the tournament, equal to England - of Portugal, it is unlikely that they can break Morocco easily. Their opponents have only lost one goal in four matches. That goal didn't even come from an opponent, but an own goal by midfielder Nayef Aguerd in the 2-1 win over Canada.

Like Messi, Ronaldo comes to the 2022 World Cup with the ambition to add to the collection of the most prestigious Cup title with the national team. Ronaldo needs the World Cup even more, because it is the only way for him to prove himself better than Messi.

Before the game, Santos seemed to remind Ronaldo that the sacrifice for the team will help him achieve that goal. He said: "We watched Morocco play and realized each of their players has a sense of self-sacrifice for the team. Thanks to that, Morocco plays closely and is difficult to beat."

Morocco has kept a clean sheet when facing three strong teams in Europe including Belgium, Croatia and Spain. And against such unpleasant defensive opponents, Portugal still needs Ronaldo's experience and bravery at a crucial moment. The biggest problem is still how Ronaldo will deal with the pressure he puts on himself. If he will step back and give the stage to his juniors, Portugal will open the door to continue.

But like that, Ronaldo must accept to live in Messi's shadow, at least until the semi-finals. With such a large presence in front of the media, Ronaldo is not sure to accept and that risks damaging the atmosphere and confidence of Portugal in the next match.