Lizarazu settles Ronaldo debate: « You're heading to the elephant graveyard »

Bixente Lizarazu did not mince words over the crisis pitting Cristiano Ronaldo against the Portuguese national team and coach Jorge Jesus. The 1998 World Cup winner delivered a harsh verdict, arguing that the Federation, the coach and the player all bear responsibility for this saga.

Tensions escalated after Ronaldo left the training camp by private jet, refusing to train after being left out of the starting lineup against Norway. For Lizarazu, the situation has become damaging far beyond the sporting realm. « It’s not possible, with a player like him and what he represents for Portugal, that it ends this way. It’s a disaster for the image, » he said.

The former Bayern Munich left-back nonetheless sketched a possible way out of the crisis: a frank conversation between Ronaldo, Jesus and the Federation, in which the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s role would be clearly defined. « If there was a conversation between him, the coach and the Federation so things go well and to tell him: ‘You’re important to me but you’ll play one half, this match and that one I’ll give you rest’. The player needs to be involved and know precisely what’s expected of him. But if you tell him he’s going to play and he doesn’t get on, trust disappears. »

But it was on the psychology of the aging player that Lizarazu was most direct. He highlighted the paradox of an ego that made Ronaldo great and which today constitutes his main obstacle. « It’s because of the I, because he was Cristiano Ronaldo, because his ego made him work like crazy to break all the records. Except that you reach a point where that becomes your worst enemy. It was your strength, but now it’s your worst enemy because of your age and you’re heading to the elephant graveyard, I’m telling you. »

A blunt metaphor about international retirement that, according to him, inevitably awaits the Al-Nassr striker, now 40 years old.