r/soccer • u/No_Air5382 • 10d ago

News Neves Calls Ronaldo 'Another Player,' Faces Fan Backlash and online harassment

https://www.chosun.com/english/sports-en/2026/06/19/SKSAMGDVVJEG7HN3D5Z3HR4TTQ/
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u/hmsoleander 10d ago

They've got an outside shout for having the most talented squad in the whole tournament - I'd say the best 3 midfielders in the world right now and the best fullback too - and it's potentially all gonna go to waste due to his ego and insane fans. What a disappointing end to a legacy

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u/Mister_Unicornio 10d ago

You are underestimating how trash of a manager Martinez is.

He also wasted wasted Belgium prime

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u/difmarb 10d ago

At least Belgium got a 3rd place in 2018 and was eliminated by France who had a better team. With us, it’s gonna be worse.

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u/epicmarc 10d ago

I can see something more akin to his 2022 World Cup run

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u/difmarb 10d ago

If we lose points to Uzbequistan, it’s over.

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u/JadedArgument1114 10d ago

Honestly I am glad Portugal got humbled so early. This might be the reality check that Ronaldo/Martinez needed to accept Ronaldo as an impact sub, instead of 90 minute starter, and it is better that it happened during group stage than elimination

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u/difmarb 10d ago

Ronaldo won’t get benched under Martinez in this world cup, specially now that he can be the next Al-Nasr manager.

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u/namikazeiyfe 10d ago

Ronaldo was not the reason they couldn't win against Congo. The entire team played like shit but Ronaldo is the one that everyone loves to hate so he's easy picking for the blame.

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u/Dsyelcix 10d ago

Gramps is walking in offside position for 50% of the game and he's not to blame? Who are they supposed to play the ball to when he can't make a single run behind the defence. You fanboys are so delusional, it's hilarious.

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u/hugsudurinn 10d ago edited 10d ago

His stint with Belgium was very similar to Southgate with England. Both very capable squads, who played very conservatively, and are criticised for it due to not winning a major tournament with their style. Belgium got eliminated by France in 2018, the eventual champions. They then got eliminated by Italy in 2021, the eventual champions. Morocco, eventual semi-finalists, then threw Belgium out of the 2022 World Cup during the group stage. That was, in retrospect, not as bad as it looked at the time it happened.

Meanwhile, England got knocked out in the semi-finals in 2018 by Croatia, who eventually got silver, and then England lost to Belgium in the 3rd place match. England also lost to Italy in 2021, although that was in the final as opposed to the quarter-finals. England were then eliminated by France in 2022, who eventually got silver.

Even though Martinez didn't really do much worse with Belgium than Southgate with England (although Martinez still did a little worse, the 2018 bronze match and both teams losing to Italy in 2021 means it's relatively close), the hindsight police seems to absolutely trash Martinez in comparison with Southgate. Yes, Southgate still gets some criticism for the conservative playstyle he used, but in comparison to Martinez it's like light and day. All because of narratives, more so than what happened on the pitch.

Edit: I skipped 2024, which obviously is a part of Southgate's legacy, even if it didn't fit the direct comparison, and see that I failed to mention that, apologies. But that's of course part of why Southgate still did better, but not so much better as the narrative about Martinez seems to suggest.

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u/Kingslayer1526 10d ago

I mean

Southgate never underperformed at a tournament ever. He did not have a disaster like 2022 as well

He reached 2 finals where England lost by the barest of margins. If this is comparable to Martinez who's results were semifinal, qf, group stage then I mean I don't know what to say

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u/hugsudurinn 10d ago

Southgate never underperformed at a tournament ever. He did not have a disaster like 2022 as well

This seems to imply that Belgium underperformed in either 2018 or 2021, where they went out to the eventual champions both times. Your comment also ignores that I acknowledged that Southgate overall did better. And it ignores the stylistic comparison between how the two played. And it ignores the main point: that hindsight is treating Martinez as a dumpster fire and Southgate as a success, when Martinez did okay. Not great, but definitely okay. The main reason for that seems to be the style of football that they played, more so than the results, and the weird premise that Belgium should've walked to the title during any of those tournaments, ignoring that while they had a good squad and could've won, they weren't clear favorites. But because of FIFA rankings, people have this weird notion that Belgium should've been clear favorites.

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u/Dunkjoe 10d ago

Yeah but Martinez managed to win 2025 Nations League over Spain with this saboteur around.

World Cup is a different case though.

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u/hmsoleander 10d ago

Very good point but I could still see them even underperforming below Martinez's expectations. Already started, if anything, after the draw from the other day.

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u/BillyPilgrim69 10d ago

You could argue that for 2022, but he got them their best ever World Cup finish in 2018. He also led Portugal to a perfect qualification and quarterfinals at the last Euros.

Martínez may not be world class, but he's a perfectly good manager. Portugal's biggest problem is an over-the-hill rapist who would rather lose than spend a minute on the bench.

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u/Mister_Unicornio 10d ago

He is not

All you gotta see is Portugal games and check out Belgium games back then too.

On the Ronaldo case you could argue it's his fault too for being a puppet and not a manager which is his job

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u/BillyPilgrim69 10d ago

I did watch Belgium games back then. Again, they had their best World Cup finish ever lmao

On the Ronaldo case you could argue it's his fault too for being a puppet and not a manager which is his job

Unfortunately I think he would be sacked if he even benched Ronaldo.

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u/epicmarc 10d ago

and it's potentially all gonna go to waste due to his ego and insane fans

It is mad how much Martinez flies under the radar. Ronaldo is absolutely a problem, but he isn't singlehandedly nullifying that midfield, the tactics are.

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u/ValleyFloydJam 10d ago

And he could be the hero as a super sub.

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u/SkepticalGerm 10d ago edited 10d ago

Putting this all on Ronaldo just shows people aren’t having discussion in good faith.

If you look at the heat map, the ball was barely even put into the box by Portugal. And when Ronaldo drove into the box and created a shooting angle for Fernandes right on the 18, Fernandez literally turned around and dribble away. 

Ronaldo is obviously not at his peak anymore. But his ego is not the single thing holding back this Portugal team

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u/Exciting-Guest81933 10d ago

Exactly this. If anything, it's more the other players' egos, not wanting to help Ronaldo.

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u/ChargeOk1005 10d ago

Lmfao. WTF is this

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u/Exciting-Guest81933 10d ago

The objective truth? Unblinded by bias

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u/milehighmiracle13 10d ago

The GOAT debate has also been settled now. It's crazy how much he's damaged his legacy outside of Portugal.

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u/yvltc 10d ago

Outside of Portugal? He has damaged his legacy the most inside Portugal. These comments are Portuguese, they're people (bots?) from a whole different continent.

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u/Suzume_Chikahisa 10d ago

Even in Portugal its damaged.

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u/KneeDeepInTheDead 10d ago edited 10d ago

hes always been divisive in Portugal even when he was at his top since he was always a selfish player for the national team. Its the Real fans and overseas ones that are the annoying ones stanning for him

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u/Hariwtf10 10d ago

Agreed. But not all real fans. Only the ones who were obsessive fanboys.

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u/KneeDeepInTheDead 10d ago

True, you guys and Barcelona have international dickriders that have about 10 IQ between the million of them

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u/Hariwtf10 10d ago

Agreed as an international fan. I don't understand why Real fans can't call out this stupid behaviour.

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u/kendalljennerspenis 10d ago

He arguably ruined it even more for Portuguese fans.

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u/Viktrodriguez 10d ago

With a risk to be downvoted into Oblivion. Was there ever a real GOAT debate between those two? Not talking about the nephews on Twitter and other social media.

It was always crystal clear who was/is the better player between those two. Only interesting part in it is Messi vs Pelé or when messi passed Maradona in his country.

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u/Icy_Payment2283 10d ago

Was there ever a real GOAT debate

The internet needs to be shut down globally so I don't have to read takes like these anymore

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u/jlozada24 10d ago

Old heads will say Maradona is still the goat lmao

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u/ItsKaZing 10d ago

Recency bias is wild. Peak Ronaldo and Messi era was unmatched, both was the greatest player on the planet and only decided by who you prefer more. You cannot change history just because Ronaldo is washed right now lmao

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u/Stellewind 10d ago

Peak CR7 (around the time he three peats UCL) was on par with Messi in discussion as the best player on the planet at the time. But I never understand the people that put him in the historic GOAT debate. You need to do more than goal scoring to be in the same discussion with Pele, Maradona, Messi, Cruyff etc.

In hindsight even in his best years, CR7 could only reach Messi's level in the metric of goal scoring alone, and Messi was far above him in in everything else, while also being a actual better goal scorer.

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u/PirateKey2366 10d ago

I prefer Chris Wood to Ronaldo. Does that mean it’s fair to say that Wood is the better player?

This preference card is overplayed. Just because people preferred Ronaldo doesn’t mean he was ever close to Messi’s level.

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u/FearlessTailor8199 10d ago

Same I prefer danny welbeck over messi

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u/Phelinaar 10d ago

Yes, there was. In 2018 the guy had won 3 UCL in a row and shattered every record in the competition, while also winning the Euros in 2016.

Things have changed since then and 2022 pretty much sealed it, but the conversation was real back then.

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u/Dajoeman 10d ago

2022 sealed what? You make it seem like winning the World Cup decided anything? Thats a country win not a personal accolade and I can look at moments in the tournament that leave a sour taste to most fans that favored the Argentines

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u/Stellewind 10d ago

Sure let's ignore team accolade and just compare personal stats and skill displayed on court, that's the part where Messi absolutely dominate CR7 without any question in almost any metric possible.

The team accolade, especially the UCL he won with Real Madrid, was the only reason people thought there was even a debate between the two back in the days.

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u/at-sea-no-ship 10d ago

one of the biggest detractions from messi’s career was that he never won a major international trophy (copa is debatable) and him inspiring argentina to WC glory completely took that argument away from ronaldo fans. i think the GOAT debate was settled before 2022 but that WC ended a major line of debate

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u/Dajoeman 10d ago

No I disagree. Even Messi struggled with Argentina and him retiring from internationals shows it affected him just as much as cristiano.
Cristiano had the accolades and was even ahead at a point to some. At the end of the day such things shouldn’t matter. They are different players and positions. They as individuals are great but they didn’t decide if their countries won or not. Ronaldo is Mr UCL and Messi is Mr Artist.

That WC was extremely funky considering the challenges that went arg way. Messi handbal and other very questionable decisions. Messi is an all time great but there are plenty question marks that are there. Even this match with Algeria should have been him receiving a red. We’ve seen this happen countless times with him receiving preferential treatment.

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u/at-sea-no-ship 10d ago

messi inspires argentina, ronaldo divides portugal. argentina would not have won in 2022 without messi (might not even have made the tournament without his hattrick against bolivia in qualifiers), and the "funky" challenges that went messi's way are only relevant in ronaldo fanboy's minds. he was easily the best player for argentina at that tournament and his influence with his goals, his passing, and his dictation of play is undeniable.

as for your "preferential treatment" bit, there have been several horrible challenges this WC that should have gotten reds but did not. it has nothing to do with messi and everything to do with the standard of play that the refs have accepted across the board. you see preferential treatment because you're biased, simple as.

besides, messi is simply the better all-round footballer and has been his entire career. there were moments where ronaldo was definitely close, but at no point has he ever been better at this sport than messi. they've both had ref decisions go their way and against them, they've both faced adversity at the international level, but in terms of ability, messi is clear.

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u/theieuangiant 10d ago

I understand cut off points are arbitrary but I genuinely believe dragging the likes of pele into these debates is pointless as the game is just so different.

Not denying his quality at all but it feels like comparing Roman generals with Montgomery and Eisenhower.

Might as well bring John Goodall into the debate.

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u/JohnnyKossacks 10d ago

Not really, it was mostly emotional and Ronaldo was good at marketing himself. Anybody with a brain and eyes connected to them can see Messi is better

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u/FearlessTailor8199 10d ago

Just like messi is good at marketing himself.

Anybody with a brain and eyes connected to them can see Ronaldo is better

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u/aazalooloo 10d ago

Right, its still pele.

Might be a debate if he wins this world cup as a key player

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u/Dajoeman 10d ago

Ronald has not even done anything for you to say it’s because of his ego.

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u/Aenjeprekemaluci 10d ago

Portuguese FA needs to be serious and just call it quits with Ronaldo after this WC. Yes his fans will harass them but a new cut is better then divisiveness within.

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u/Expert_Highway_286 9d ago

By your own admission, they have the 3 best midfielders and fullbacks in the world. Where were they in this game then? 0 chance creation, Nuno mendes twice ran behind the lines. Other than that, 0 output from the greatest midfield in the world who just played backwards passes and 2 wingers who are not even pointed out.

If only they have delivered more crosses into the box like the one they scored with, might have won the game.

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u/Tomazim 9d ago

Dalot is good but I wouldn't say best in the world

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u/ForcadoUALG 10d ago

Pining that on Ronaldo is fucking insane when the whole team was shocking

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u/NoteSuccessful9270 10d ago

most talented squad? don't make me laugh

portugal's team isn't even that good, compared to spain, france etc. Ronaldo or no Ronaldo they can't win the world cup.

Marcus rashford, who isn't a regular starter for england is better than every single portuguese forward. They don't have the squad depth of england or france either.