If two Britons rub shoulders in the woods, there is a 99% chance that one or both of them will say, "Good morning." ”
If two Portuguese people pass by on the streets of Leipzig, there is a 99% chance that one or both of them will say: "Siuuuuu." ”
This is the scene before Portugal's match against the Czech Republic in the opening match of Euro 2024.
Portugal have won all 10 matches in the European qualifiers and are one of the favourites to win the tournament. They look fresh under attack-focused coach Roberto Martinez and their squad is the envy of almost the entire continent, with the exception of France, who are in the World Cup finals.
However, during the pre-match warm-up, pre-kick-off and for much of the game at the RB Arena in Leipzig, the main focus of most Portuguese fans on the scene was a 39-year-old striker who played in the league, ranked 27th in the world.
The ratio of Cristiano Ronaldo's jersey to any other player's jersey is greater than 10:1. There were also fans wearing the yellow jerseys of Riyadh Victory outside the stadium, and yes, "Siuuuu" was endless.
Inside the stadium, the adoration of him became even more fanatical. When the stadium radio announced the names of both sides about 50 minutes before kick-off, it sounded like a goal had been scored.
When he warms up, the crowd will watch his every move, cheering for his goal and lamenting his missed shot. No other player will be noticed.
The press gallery was also wearing Cristiano Ronaldo's Riyadh Victory No. 7 shirt. In the face of the worship of Ronaldo, neutrality does not exist, and there is a reporter, as soon as Ronaldo gets the ball, she picks up her mobile phone and starts shooting.
The soap opera around Ronaldo never stops, no matter how old he is. Ronaldo is not only loved, respected, praised, touted and adored by the whole world. Ronaldo's very existence is a frenzy.
These people don't care if Ronaldo plays for Manchester United, Portugal, Riyadh Victory or any other club.
However, no matter how much noise, noise and farce there is around Ronaldo, no matter how many people adore him and support him with all their hearts (like supporting clubs), or no matter how many people despise his egotistical, irascible character, things are normal in the eye of the storm.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, Cristiano Ronaldo dramatically left Old Trafford to give an interview to Pierce Morgan, causing controversy.
Former Portugal coach Fernando Santos was annoyed by the constant questions about Cristiano Ronaldo every time he went to a press conference. As manager and captain, the relationship between the two has always been good, but you can fully imagine Santos annoyed by the claim that Ronaldo is in control of the dressing room and the team. (Remember in the Euro 2016 final, Ronaldo commanded his teammates on the sidelines).
It was a shocking moment for Santos to drop Cristiano Ronaldo in Qatar after he was blamed for his poor performances (eight without scoring in nine international matches) after being substituted against South Korea. Gonzalo Ramos, who started in place of him, scored a hat-trick in Portugal's 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland, but Portugal were eliminated by Morocco in the quarter-finals.
With Santos gone, his successor, Martinez, could have said goodbye to the national team for the 38-year-old (if he had the power). The latter has been deprecated, is past retirement age, and is still playing in Saudi Arabia, all of which are valid reasons.
However, Martinez not only kept Ronaldo in the national team, but also made him the heart of the "new" era. Cristiano Ronaldo started nine of his 10 European qualifiers, scoring 10 goals and quickly re-established himself as the undisputed centre-forward for the national team.
Therefore, apart from the occasional question about whether Ronaldo was selected for the team by virtue of strength or fame, Martinez answered questions that had nothing to do with Ronaldo in most press conferences. He was not asked any questions about Cristiano Ronaldo after the match against the Czech Republic, something that has never happened in the last 15 years at the Portugal manager's press conference.
Cristiano Ronaldo was outstanding against the Czechs, linking up with his team-mates and finding the arrow to meet a team-mate's cross or through ball when the situation was critical. Of course, he also gets distracted at times, and given his age and position, it's no surprise that he has the fewest touches of any Portuguese player, but has the most shots on goal.
By Ronaldo's standards, he lost his temper less often, encouraging and reassuring his younger team-mates, and Portugal did not complete the comeback until stoppage time.
Other players were also in good shapes, with 21-year-old Porto winger Conceição scoring the winner and 24-year-old midfielder Vitinha named Man of the Match.
In this farce, it is not Ronaldo who is important, but the fans, media and social media around him, who is still the loudest name in the city.
Pedro Cunha is the editor-in-chief of the Portuguese football website Zero Zero.
"Despite Ronaldo's lesser and lesser role for the team – which is entirely normal considering he's 39 years old – he is still the most popular among Portuguese players in our user base," said Cunha, "and the data says this very clearly. People are still very interested in what he does. ”
The Czech coach's comment on Ronaldo's article was read by 72,000 people. Ronaldo's report on Nacho was read by 50,000 people. These are the real reads of our website. ”
"These are more read than our reports on the matches of Porto vs Benfica or Benfica vs Stadio, which have always been read.
"Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer the dominant figure on the pitch, but interest in him is at an all-time high. He is more popular than ever, especially when he is playing in the World Cup and the European Championship. ”
As far as his performance is concerned, the same was true for the second round of the group stage against Turkey.
He was once again an efficient player in the attacking end of the pitch for Portugal, but this time, Ronaldo was visibly frustrated, especially when Portugal had a chance to shoot and lashed out at Cancelo for not passing the ball to him. As a result, the ball inexplicably turned into an own goal.
However, two other things determined the mood of that afternoon.
First of all, if Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be more of a selfless team player in this Portugal team, aware of his weaknesses and age, then Portugal's third goal is a perfect epitome of his selfless passing to Fernandes in the face of scoring opportunities.
Secondly, there are too many fans who want to rush onto the field to take pictures with him.
This is nothing new. During Portugal's pre-European training sessions, 8,000 people were on hand to watch, some of whom forced their way onto the pitch, including goalkeeper José Sa who slid into one of them.
But the frenetic pitch invaders hit a wall at Borussia Dortmund. At first, Ronaldo smiled and happily posed for a photo with a brave child, which went viral and made the front page of the German newspaper Bild the next day.
The second entry was a grown man who was not very popular and Ronaldo had to take the man's arm off his neck.
At the end of the game, five more people (one of whom was even wearing a Turkish shirt) tried to try their luck from different angles, with the staff tired and Ronaldo showing frustration and impatience. One of the selfiegraphers almost injured Ramos,
'You can understand that it was a difficult time – if the intention is wrong, the players are in danger,' Martinez said. 'We should send a message to the fans: it's not the right thing to do. You won't get anything out of it, and the (security) measures are going to get stricter. ”
Cristiano Ronaldo played the full game against both the Czech Republic and Turkey, a feat that was impressive and a testament to his fitness, nutrition and recovery.
José Blessa, a friend of Ronaldo's and a nutritionist at Riyadh Victory and a professor at several universities, including the European University of Madrid, said:
"All year round, our schedule has been the same because we have a game every three or four days, which is about eight or ten days.
"The European Championship is a continuation of our whole season. He is very focused on recovery, very focused on rest and eating, and he knows what needs to be done. He doesn't stop resting to do well in the game, he's very smart and knows himself very well.
'A lot of times young players make the little mistake of wanting to train more, but when you're at that age, you have to pay special attention to recovery.
"He is one of the players with the lowest fat percentage and one of the players with the highest muscle percentage. As for performance stats, he played 95, 98 or 100 minutes per game. ”
After the World Cup, Ronaldo scored 12 goals in 14 international matches and 58 goals in 64 appearances for Riyadh Victory.
Of Ronaldo's 12 international goals, 10 have come against teams ranked 60th and below in the FIFA rankings, while the other two have come against Slovakia, who are currently ranked 45th. Of course, this was also his sixth European Championship appearance, and against Georgia, he played 66 minutes, the worst of the three group games, and came out looking a little frustrated.
'He hasn't changed, he's continuing to play like he used to.' Marcelo Salazar, the sporting director of last season's Riyadh Victory, said, "He is very good at reading games. Depending on the game, he reads the situation and jumps out of the box to reappear when needed. “
'I saw him as focused as he was at the Euros, always focused and playing his best.
"When I was asked about my age, I said that football is a performance-oriented sport. If a 20-year-old doesn't perform, he's eliminated; If a 40-year-old performs well, he's selected, and that's it. Personally, I think the more we can enjoy Ronaldo's performance on the pitch, the better. Football is grateful for that. ”
Cristiano Ronaldo's contract expires in 2025, but when you hear Ronaldo say he wants to unlock 250 international achievements (currently 210, based on his efficiency of nearly 40 games, it will not be achieved until he will be 43 in 2028), retirement seems quite far away.
How much longer can he hold out?
Salazar said: "If you had asked me that question at the last European Championship, maybe someone would have said that it was about the same, this is the last one, but Ronaldo will not set limits for himself. I don't dare to set limits on Cristiano Ronaldo, the World Cup, maybe the European Cup? As medicine progressed, what I saw, the way he took care of himself, his passion for the game...... I don't dare to set limits on him, what qualifications do I have? ”
Blessa said the Ronaldo effect is growing in Saudi Arabia.
"Fans from all over the world come to our stadium," he said, "and you can see a lot of them at the gate of the sports city, and they wait for a whole week. ”
"They said they were from China, Italy or Japan and came to see him. They come every day and then the crowd in our stadium changes. In addition, when we go abroad to play away games, such as to China or Iran, there are thousands of people as well. ”
"I don't think there is any other athlete today who can compare to the Cristiano Ronaldo phenomenon, in fact, the treatment of him by the fans is unparalleled."
After Portugal's 2-0 win over Georgia, there was jubilation outside the Schalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen.
Fans, including several girls from Asia, gathered around a tall figure that looked like Cristiano Ronaldo from a certain angle. Because he has Ronaldo's hairstyle, wears Ronaldo-style earrings, and wears a full set of Portugal jerseys, with Ronaldo's number 7 printed on the jersey and shorts.
The 26-year-old Sandro Gil has been making the most of the opportunity and fears it will be the last time he will watch his hero fight live. He came to the Portuguese team's hotel in Marienfeld and took a photo with the Romes gathered outside the hotel. Some of them thought he was Cristiano Ronaldo at first, while others were happy to have a photo with someone who looked a lot like Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Cristiano Ronaldo is my idol," said Jill, who I have watched for 20 years. Over the years, people started saying that I looked like him. Now I watch his videos, and I try to do some of the same actions and do things in the same way. I love his style. “
Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenon, an effect, one person can top a team, no matter what you say, the admiration for him is still growing.