Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal international Danilo Pereira said that despite his apparent influence, the national team does not revolve around Cristiano Ronaldo alone.
Ronaldo is in the headlines right now after conducting an interview with Piers Morgan, where he aired out his frustration with his situation at Manchester United.
While Ronaldo made the headlines again with his smashing remarks about what’s occurring at Old Trafford, Danilo insisted that the Portugal national team act as a whole despite the 37-year-old’s high demands and downplayed the star player’s role in Portugal.
“There will always be criticism because Cristiano is a bestselling actor who is talked about every day,” Danilo told FIFA (h/t Goal). “If it’s bad, people talk. If it’s good, people talk. So in the group, we see that naturally.
“It’s normal for the national team to get more attention over Cristiano. We’re going to throw more balls at him, we’re going to try to get him to score and he’s going to demand it.”
Much was expected from manager Fernando Santos’ talented group of Portuguese players after the Nations League victory in 2019, but it did not happen. At the UEFA Euros, Portugal would fall in the Round of 16, losing to Belgium.
Danilo, Ronaldo and the rest of the Portuguese squad will begin their 2022 World Cup adventure with a match against Ghana on Nov. 24 in Group H.
