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Ronaldo is messing it up as messiah for Portugal

World's most expensive player must meet nation's expectations against Dutch, writes Paul Hayward.

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There is a brutal expectation in tournaments that the world's best players will spread their peacock feathers and outshine lesser creatures as they do for their clubs. Nothing less than a complete affirmation of their brilliance is acceptable.

This pressure bears down on Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal face Holland in Kharkiv in a group of death dominated by Germany. While Lionel Messi's hat-trick for Argentina against Brazil was delighting YouTube viewers, his rival as world's best footballer was preparing to storm Euro 2012. How could Ronaldo fail to make Poland and Ukraine his private stage after 60 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid?

The conquest is not happening. Or not yet. So unforgiving are the standards that apply to players of Ronaldo's magisterial ability that one bad game has started an inquest into his contribution to the national side, who are in danger of going out.

The Dutch have their own troubled master: Arjen Robben, whose vault over the advertising hoardings after he was substituted against Germany ended a night of impotence in the forward areas.

Messi v Ronaldo is the duel of our age. The La Liga title race was a struggle between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho and the world's two finest attacking talents, who trampled the record books, Ronaldo came out on top, adding Spain's domestic title to the honours he won at Manchester United. Messi's electrifying hat-trick against Brazil - the third, an outrageous match-winner into the top corner - subverted the old claim that he is a child of Barcelona's tiki-taka teaching who might never reach Diego Maradona's heights for Argentina.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, headed for Euro 2012 as trophy-winner and proven international talisman. With his 46 La Liga goals, and 14 more from Champions League, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, he seemed in perfect shape to help Portugal improve on the their second-place finish at Euro 2004. In that final, where they lost to the scufflers of Greece, he was a 19-year-old prodigy making his name at United.

The grumbling started after he missed two one-on-one chances against the Denmark goalkeeper in the 3-2 victory in Lviv. The most blatant miscue came shortly before Nicklas Bendtner equalised to make it 2-2. These are the game-killing chances we expect the best to take, even in a season when Messi and Robben missed Champions League penalties against Chelsea. A year spent watching Ronaldo dispatch chance after chance for Real Madrid is no preparation for a show of bluntness in his country's colours.

Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach, was not receptive to criticism. "He is a player of enormous ability who wasn't efficient in a couple of situations he found himself in," he said. "He's not under pressure from us, he's here to help us resolve our problems. He has played two good games. There is not a single player among the 23 in the squad who feels any sense of frustration. They all have feelings of happiness and satisfaction and a sense of responsibility for the Holland game."

Needing only one goal to move ahead of Luis Figo into a clear third on Portugal's all-time scoring list (he now has 32), Ronaldo also drew support from his Real team-mate, Pepe: "Ronaldo is the best player in the world but even the best make mistakes, so we're here to support him. He's one player in the team, he can't carry Portugal on his back. It was his turn to make a mistake today but he helped make it possible for us to be here in the first place."

In this loyalty can be found a few clues. First, Ronaldo is not here as part of the winning machine Mourinho has constructed in Madrid. There, he performs his starring role in a settled side with a clear system that allows him to raid behind a top-class centre-forward in Karim Benzema. Here, the striker is Real Zaragoza's Helder Postiga, a lesser talent who frustrated him with his decision-making in Lviv.

The role of world's most expensive footballer is a burden Ronaldo, 27, has made less onerous with each month in Madrid. But national icon is another, weightier calling. Authority deserts the greatest players when anxiety jolts them out of their confident rhythms and chances are snatched at. Over-eagerness is the enemy even of geniuses.

Danish fans probed for Ronaldo's weak spot and found it. "Messi, Messi, Messi," they chanted at him, in honour of an even more prolific star. Messi scored 73 times last season, with 50 in La Liga. The Danish provocation worked. "You know where he [Messi] was at this time last year? Do you know?" Ronaldo asked. "He was being eliminated in the Copa America, in his own country. I think that's worse, no?"

Before this tournament Bento said: "Some people always want more from him, but as far as I'm concerned he's always been an exemplary professional. We can't expect Cristiano to solve all of our problems." His own "problem" might just be an excessive wish to be the Portuguese Messiah, not for egotistical reasons, but out of a need to be respected and admired on the mainland he travelled to as a boy from Madeira. If he relaxes and tries to enjoy this championship, Holland could be in trouble.

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