CR7 under pressure

CR7 was frustated after the 1-0 loss to Germany

Perhaps Portugal should never had made Cristiano Ronaldo captain, judging by the way he tore his armband off and was the first player to storm down the tunnel after Saturday’s Euro 2012 defeat to Germany.

After all, in the greatest Portugal teams of the past, stars like Eusebio and Luis Figo were not the skippers. They were allowed to play, free from the responsibility of leadership.

Being captain may be something that stokes the fires of CR7’s notorious ego, but it is debatable whether or not it adds to his performance for his national team.

While he was certainly Portugal’s best player against Germany, Ronaldo still did not do enough to suggest he can drag them kicking and screaming into the second round of the competition.

He was his customary step-over self, but the tricks he has used to destroy teams like Granada and Getafe in the past seldom flustered Germany’s nonplussed defenders.

And when Ronaldo started to berate his team-mates for misplacing passes before half time, perhaps he should have held a mirror to himself.

Portugal’s manager Paolo Bento knows full well the importance of CR7 to his cause, and insisted the Real Madrid man had a good game against Germany.

"I haven't done the individual analysis yet but I think it was a very good game by Ronaldo," Bento said on Sunday.

And former Portugal wizard Figo sought to lump CR7’s ineffective display on the shoulders of his team-mates.

"I think the team need to give [Ronaldo] the chances to have a good performance," Figo said.

"Cristiano's style is to finish, to score, so if the team don't produce those kind of opportunities then of course his performance is down."

After his stunning season, there can be no doubt as to CR7’s standing at the pinnacle of the game.

However, it seems that he is now the superstar to shoulder the burden of underperforming for his national team.

His rival for the podium as football’s best player is Lionel Messi, who has buried the old saw that he cannot play for his country.

Messi has embraced the captain’s armband for Argentina, and flourished with it, scoring nine goals from as many internationals.

His hat-trick against Brazil at the weekend gave him 82 goals for the season, and pushed him closer to retaining the Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo meanwhile, needs a stellar Euro 2012 if he is to pip Messi for football’s top individual award.

There are still two group games to go for Ronaldo to assert himself, and perhaps the knockout stage to follow.

But after Portugal’s damp squib display against the Germans, and Messi’s goal rush weekend, the pressure on Ronaldo to perform for himself and his country has ratcheted up a notch.