‘You cannot write off Cristiano Ronaldo’: Shaqiri warns Swiss teammates ahead of FIFA World Cup RO16 match vs Portugal

The days of the mighty Cristiano Ronaldo are finally coming to its dramatic end. Considered by many to be one of greatest players in football history, the Portugal captain is now 37-years-old, a distant reflection of his earlier days. The former Manchester United failed to feature much in the ongoing Premier League season before getting his contract terminated due to a controversial interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Although he scored a goal during Portugal’s group stage campaign of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022, he otherwise put in a poor display and even many Portugal fans have called for him to be benched for their Round of 16 fixture vs Switzerland.

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Ronaldo was also named in Sofascore’s worst XI of the group stage with an average rating of 6.37. The list consists of four Qatar players, two from Canada and Costa Rica each, and one player each from Saudi Arabia and Australia.

But Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqifi feels that Ronaldo is still pivotal to Portugal’s plans and stated that nobody can ‘write off Cristiano’. “You cannot write off Cristiano, he is one of the best players in the world together with (Lionel) Messi. This guy can score any second, any minute, he has experience and everyone knows how important he is for Portugal and for his team”, he said.

Ronaldo scored a penalty in the opener vs Ghana as Portugal sealed a 3-2 win, followed by a 2-0 victory against Uruguay. But then in their final Group H encounter, they crashed to a 1-2 defeat vs South Korea. Despite the defeat, Portugal managed to finish on top spot in Group H. Meanwhile, Switzerland began their campaign with a 1-0 win vs Cameroon in Group G, followed by a defeat vs Brazil. In a must-win match, they defeated Serbia 3-2 to finish second in their group.