Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has predicted where Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal side will finish at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo is all set to play in the competition for a fifth time, and given he’s 37 years of age now, it might as well be his last.
Bowing out with the most prestigious honor in football would be a dream farewell, but the Selecao have never reached the World Cup finals before.
However, this edition could be different, or so predicts Carragher, now an acclaimed sports pundit, who feels Ronaldo and Co. will finish as the runners-up.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he was asked who’d go home with the silver medal, and the 44-year-old picked the Selecao, whom he backs to make their first appearance in the final.
It may seem a bit stretched, given the other highly talented sides in the tournament, but Portugal are packed to the rafters with quality options too.
Head coach Fernando Santos has called up stellar names such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Andre Silva, Joao Cancelo and Rafael Leao, among others.
This is a promising squad on paper, and their potential finish could be determined by their performances in the group stages, having drawn Uruguay, South Korea and Ghana.
Uruguay knocked them out in the round of 16 of the last World Cup while South Korea beat them in the first round of the 2002 edition. Both teams have a strong attacking arsenal, too.
If Portugal manage to win the group, then a relatively easy fixture awaits in the next round. However, a second-place finish would mean a daunting challenge against heavyweights Brazil, who are likely to win Group G.
Ronaldo and Co. begin their World Cup campaign in Qatar against Ghana on 24 November.
Cristiano Ronaldo prepares for World Cup farewell?
Cristiano Ronaldo is 37 now, so this could very well be his last World Cup with Portugal, even though he’s said that he’ll retire only if his team wins the trophy.
As much as he’d love to continue playing, the Manchester United star’s form has dropped dramatically this season as age seems to have finally caught up with him.
He’s no longer the main man for club and country and it’s about time he made way for young guns to rise to the fore.
