How big is Ronaldo's influence in the 2022 World Cup?

As is known, right before the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo publicly spoke ill of Man United. He affirmed that he was betrayed and that MU had not renewed itself for a long time. In response to Ronaldo's statement, the Red Devils' Board of Directors recently confirmed that they had terminated the contract with the 37-year-old player who used to play for Real Madrid.

The scandals involving Ronaldo certainly affected the Portuguese national team's preparations for the 2022 World Cup. For example, when the Portuguese national team held a press conference before the match with Ghana, about 50 reporters, fully equipped with cameras, recording and taking pictures, jostled and pushed each other, causing a chaotic atmosphere.

All of them were aiming to find as much information about Ronaldo as possible. In the end, these reporters were caught offside because the Portuguese team secretly took Ronaldo to another place and gave interviews at another time without informing the media to avoid attention.

The rare people who had access to Ronaldo only received a brief message. Specifically, they were asked not to ask the Portuguese players about Ronaldo but to only discuss the World Cup. According to Ronaldo, he will only open up when he feels it is necessary.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo's teammate in the Portuguese national team, midfielder Bernardo Silva, affirmed: "I don't understand why you guys are so persistent in finding out information about Ronaldo. There's nothing wrong with that. It's a shame that you keep repeating questions about Ronaldo, while the Portuguese national team has an important campaign to focus on fighting."

Clearly, Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and the rest of the Portugal squad don’t want to be bothered. The problem is they can’t stop the crowd when Ronaldo’s appeal is simply too great. Even if his form has declined this season, Ronaldo’s popularity has not changed.

If you go to Qatar, you can easily see Ronaldo's image on the big screens in the skyscrapers in the center of Doha. Billboards at the city's train station also often feature Ronaldo's image as the highlight. Talking to ESPN reporters, one fan asserted that he came to Qatar "just to see Messi and Ronaldo".

The desire to see their idol also made about 300 people make the 30-minute journey from the center of Doha to the Al Samriya Autograph Collection hotel on Friday night. They had to wait a long time for the bus carrying the Portuguese team to appear. Although Ronaldo did not arrive until midnight, they all waited patiently until then. They thought it was worth sacrificing a little to see CR7, even if only for a fleeting moment.

When he first arrived in Qatar, Ronaldo once asserted that he had nothing left to prove after having achieved so much success in his career. However, if he fails at the 2022 World Cup, he will disappoint the enthusiasm of his fans. Now is the time for Ronaldo to put all the scandals aside to focus on his expertise. Let's wait and see at what is probably the last World Cup, Ronaldo is really out of date, or is age just a number for him?

Thanh Son