00:00Can Portugal turn the page on Cristiano Ronaldo? Let's talk about it.
00:03The other day I heard a phrase that stuck in my head.
00:05I hope we win the World Cup with him and for him.
00:08Vitinho was the one who said that.
00:10And honestly, she made me think more than any result of this World Cup.
00:13Because there might be a very interesting question involving the Portuguese national team.
00:17Is Portugal trying to win a World Cup or is it trying to give a happy ending to the greatest team in history?
00:21From your selection?
00:22And there is a huge difference between those two things.
00:24Cristiano Ronaldo is not just the greatest player in the history of Portugal.
00:27He is Portugal itself for an entire generation.
00:29For more than 20 years, any discussion about the Portuguese national team either began or ended with him.
00:33And that's not a criticism. It's a privilege.
00:35Very few national teams have had the greatest player in their history for so long.
00:39The problem is that privileges also create dependencies.
00:41And perhaps Portugal is discovering this now.
00:43Because there's a huge difference between having Cristiano Ronaldo on the field and having CR7.
00:48A caged beast filled with hatred.
00:49That Cristiano doesn't exist anymore.
00:51And it doesn't exist because no one can beat time.
00:53Neither CR7, nor Messi, nor anyone else.
00:55After drawing in the first round against the Democratic Republic of Congo,
00:58Many criticisms arose.
01:00The entire team failed to impress.
01:01But once again, the main debate revolved around whether Cristiano Ronaldo would be a starter for the national team.
01:05Then came Uzbekistan.
01:07A 5-0 victory with two goals from Cristiano.
01:09How do you turn the page on someone who keeps writing new chapters?
01:14Perhaps this is Portugal's main dilemma.
01:17Everyone knows that the Cristiano Ronaldo era is coming to an end.
01:19But Cristiano himself seems to refuse to cooperate with this.
01:23When the discussion starts, he shows up.
01:25When the criticism mounts, he responds.
01:27Just when it seems that Portugal is ready to move on, he once again becomes the main protagonist.
01:31Perhaps the question isn't even whether Cristiano can still help.
01:34Of course you can.
01:34The question is, can Portugal imagine itself without Cristiano Ronaldo?
01:38Because replacing a player is one thing.
01:40Another, completely different thing, is replacing an era.
01:43Who's going to get behind the wheel of this car?
01:45Rafael Leão?
01:46Vitinha?
01:47João Neves?
01:47Bernardo Silva?
01:48Bruno Fernandes?
01:49Perhaps it's one of those.
01:50Or not.
01:51Perhaps it's the sum of all of them.
01:52But for now, the feeling is that Portugal is like that son who has lived his whole life on the other side.
01:57of the father.
01:57And the big problem isn't when the father leaves.
02:00The problem is figuring out who you are when he's no longer there.
02:02And perhaps that's the most interesting discussion about the Portuguese team in this World Cup.
02:07It's unclear whether Cristiano Ronaldo is still capable of deciding games.
02:10But if Portugal has already decided who it will be when the first thing that comes to people's minds ceases to be...
02:14Cristiano Ronaldo.
