da bet nacional： The Three Lions sneaked past Switzerland in spite of their static all-time top scorer and must avoid making the same mistake as Portugal

da betcris： The English media love to kick a man when he's down and after Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were knocked out of Euro 2024 on Friday, there was a feeding frenzy. And with good reason.

What should have been a mouth-watering contest between two of the best sides on the continent, if not the world, descended into the Cristiano Ronaldo show, just like Portugal's last-16 tie with Slovenia.

'Ronaldo looked lost in his own reverie' wrote A galactic battle lost in the black hole of one man’s ego,' was the take from . 'Cristiano Ronaldo should retire from Portugal duty for his own good,' wrote , claiming the striker was 'threatening his own legacy by not knowing when to stop'.

Portugal in the end paid the price for trying to accommodate a captain way past the peak of his powers, and a squad brimming with world-class talent was left at the mercy of a penalty shootout.

But less than 24 hours later, England almost succumbed to the same fate, showing blind faith in Harry Kane against Switzerland despite the clear evidence in front of them that he was holding them back.

Getty Dragging their teams down

Kane and Ronaldo might be contrasting characters in many ways, with the England striker appearing to be a far more humble figure than the towering ego of his Portuguese counterpart.

But there are also some obvious similarities between them. They both captain their national teams and are their countries' all-time top scorers. They have each won the Golden Boot at a major tournament and have taken their team to the final of a Euros. Their place in their nation's hall of fame is already secured.

However, they have been dragging their teams down at this tournament. And despite the clear signs of decline, both their managers have insisted on keeping them in their line-ups and on the pitch as long as possible, compromising their team's overall performances as a result.

AdvertisementGetty Images'Lazy and annoying'

And yet, there was little mention of Kane's negative impact on the team in the write ups after England overcame Switzerland on penalties, after he had finally been taken off by Southgate. Only one pundit was prepared to draw a comparison between the lumbering striker and Ronaldo.

Step forward Jamie O'Hara, the former Tottenham midfielder turned agitator-in-chief for radio.

"He doesn't look fit, he's being lazy. He's really annoying me," O'Hara said. "I'm worried that we've got a Ronaldo in the team, and that we have to play him. He's a problem in this tournament, he really is, he's been miles off it. He just slows the game down."

O'Hara urged Gareth Southgate to drop Kane for the semi-final against the Netherlands, shocking his fellow presenter Jason Cundy. The former Chelsea player pointed out that dropping the captain for the semi would be "enormous" and could land Southgate "in massive trouble" if England were eliminated by the Dutch.

Getty 'Massive call'

Cundy, however, could not defend Kane's performance against Switzerland.

"Harry Kane's performance today was way off it, he offered nothing," Cundy said. "When Saka hits the byline, you're looking for Kane to get beyond [his marker] – he was on the penalty spot! You want him to get on the six-yard box. Two or three times it happened, Kane is on his heels, I don't know what it is, I'm not sure how fit he is."

Cundy inadvertently summed up the problem by comparing Southgate's dilemma with Kane to the one Martinez faced. He added: "That's a big call, that's like Martinez dropping Ronaldo last night. But imagine he didn't play him and they go out, people would say, 'Why you dropping Ronaldo?' That's a toughy, there ain't no right answer there, because I understand the question you've asked, and I agree with you, Kane is off it.

"That's a massive call, and I'm not sure right now it's the right one to make, because you've then made a statement. If you drop him in the semi-final, and you get to the final, do your start him in the final? Your skipper? That's a tough answer."

Getty Martinez's biggest mistake

But now they are out, Portugal surely wish that Martinez had the courage to drop Ronaldo from the starting line-up against France. Or at the very least take him off and replace him with Diogo Jota or Goncalo Ramos during the game.

Ronaldo lacked the pace and power to get on the end of crosses or to get ahead of a defender and was always screaming for the ball to be played to his feet as he did not have the legs to latch on to through balls. He also insisted on taking almost every free-kick Portugal were awarded and going for goal each time, never mind how ridiculous the angle was.

But the 39-year-old was actually more involved in his quarter-final than Kane was. He had 41 touches compared to the England captain's 27. He had three shots to Kane's two and at least managed to test the opposing goalkeeper, unlike his English counterpart, who had one shot blocked and missed the target with the other. Ronaldo also completed double the amount of passes of Kane, who made just 10.