"He shouldn't be in a job" - Pundit claims Roberto Martinez should be sacked if he keeps using Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal starting XI

Pundit Craig Burley has claimed that Roberto Martinez should be sacked by Portugal if he keeps starting Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Chelsea and Scotland midfielder insisted that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is no longer good enough to lead the Portuguese attack.

Martinez started Cristiano Ronaldo as a number nine against Scotland in their Nations League group-stage game on Tuesday, October 15. The Al-Nassr attacker did not have much joy on the pitch but played the full 90 minutes only to see the match end in a goalless draw.

Craig Burley has slammed Portugal manager Martinez for keeping Ronaldo playing up front despite his struggles for a while. He insisted that the former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar has been poor for Portugal for some time now and should not be in the starting XI.

The Scotsman said on ESPN FC:

"He struggled at Manchester United at the end, he struggled at the 2022 World Cup, he struggled at the 2024 European Championships. Do you think he's going to do great in 2026? There's a path there, carried the country for a while and then started struggling."

Burley added:

"He was a passenger in 2022, was a passenger in 2024 and will be a passenger in 2026. If people can't see that including the Portuguese manager, he shouldn't be in a job."

Roberto Martinez was appointed Portugal manager in January 2023, replacing Fernando Santos after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was in charge of Belgium for six years before taking up the Portugal job and has enjoyed a solid record with the Euro Cup winners in 2016. The 51-year-old took the Portuguese team to the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 where they bowed out to France.

The Spaniard has been in charge on Portugal 24 times so far, winning 19 times, drawing once and losing four times. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, is the highest appearance-maker and record-goalscorer in men's football by some distance.

The 39-year-old has represented Portugal 216 times till date, having scored 133 times while producing 45 assists. He won the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019.

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When former Barcelona player admitted that he lied about Lionel Messi being the best player ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo

Former Barcelona midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng once admitted that he had to lie about his opinion on the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Ghana international midfielder insisted that he had to pick Messi ahead of his favorite footballer Ronaldo in order to play for Barcelona.

Boateng spent only six months on loan at Barcelona from Sassuolo during the second half of the 2018-19 season. He only made four appearances for the Blaugrana and featured just once alongside Messi.

On Rio Ferdinand's VIBE podcast, Boateng admitted that Barcelona made him pick Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo. He insisted that he is a childhood Real Madrid fan and loves Ronaldo. He said, as quoted by talkSPORT:

"I had to say it was Lionel Messi, I lied. It was one of the biggest lies of my life. Normally I always tell the truth, but I lied because it was the only way to wear the Barcelona shirt."

The former AC Milan midfielder added:

"I'm sorry for the Barca fans, but I always supported Real Madrid as a teenager. I love Cristiano Ronaldo. But they told me I had to say that, otherwise I wouldn't play."

Kevin-Prince Boateng had more of a journeyman career playing for clubs from all across Europe and often made headlines for controversies. He won two trophies with AC Milan including a Serie A title and also won the La Liga title with Barcelona.