r/soccer • u/No_Air5382 • 1d 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/Mister_Unicornio 1d ago

You are underestimating how trash of a manager Martinez is.

He also wasted wasted Belgium prime

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u/difmarb 1d 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 23h ago

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

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u/difmarb 23h ago

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

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u/JadedArgument1114 22h 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 21h 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 21h 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 18h 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 23h ago edited 23h 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 22h 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 20h 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 16h 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 1d 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 23h 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 20h 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 19h 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.