Portugal failed to qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and was forced to enter the European qualifying play-off for the World Cup, where Cristiano Ronaldo faces the risk of missing out on what could be his last major tournament in his glorious history.
And because the 36-year-old Portuguese star is keen to write history with great care, his absence from the World Cup in Qatar will be the worst possible conclusion to his great career.
The brand name "Ronaldo" will also receive a big slap in the event that Portugal cannot qualify for the World Cup, as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner as the best player in the world depends on his multiple sources of income on promotional campaigns in which he receives hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Taking advantage of the record number of followers on social networking sites.
Ronaldo is the king of social media
Ronaldo has 367 million followers on Instagram and 96 million on Twitter, and the Manchester United striker receives 1.36 million euros for each of his social media posts.
The interactions on his accounts reached staggering numbers, as a very simple tweet saying "let's go family" received nearly half a million likes during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Thanks to Ronaldo, Portugal ranked fifth among the most prominent teams on social networking sites after Brazil, France, Argentina and England.
Ronaldo does not miss the major tournaments
"Cristiano does not miss any big competitions, and I don't think he will do that now, but he has two crucial matches left," said former Portugal international Paulo Fotri.
"Cristiano does not have to prove anything to anyone, but for him it will be a very hard blow, very difficult, it will be a huge disappointment," Vautry added.
Portuguese journalist Nuno Luz believes that this is the right moment for Ronaldo to step up and show his leadership qualities, and says, "For him it would be a disaster. Now, Cristiano's task is to bring the team together and do everything necessary to change the situation. He was very angry about everything that happened, he suffered." More than anyone else."
Luz is confident that Ronaldo has the mentality of recovery and help Portugal qualify for the World Cup, and says, "Psychologically he is very strong, it is his best trait, he is one of the best players in history, he is able to turn very bad moments into other very good moments, striving To get strength from where there is nothing."
Di Stefano, Cruyff and Pele
There are only a few examples of great stars who missed the World Cup, as Alfredo Di Stefano did not participate in the 1958 World Cup, Johan Cruyff missed the World Cup in 1970, and 4 years later Pele decided not to participate in the World Cup in Germany while he was at the height of his football stardom .