"That's how you treat him?" - Russia international rubbishes claims that Cristiano Ronaldo isn't good enough to start for Portugal

Russia international Artem Dzyuba slammed Portugal for how they treated Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He further added that Ronaldo is still deserving of starting for Portugal on a regular basis.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner didn't have the best start to his tournament in Qatar and scored only once in three group games. He was surprisingly dropped by Fernando Santos for the round-of-16 clash against Switzerland and his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick.

Ronaldo was subsequently on the bench for the quarter-final against Morocco and with Portugal trailing, Santos had to bring Ronaldo on. Dzyuba didn't like the treatment meted out to the superstar, recently saying (as per Pokerface7 Twitter):

"When you hear the word Portugal, what do you think? Oh, Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal is associated with Cristiano Ronaldo for the whole world. And that's how you treat him!"

He added:

"He deserves it (to play for Portugal at 38), by just being there. The man scored 800 goals. Is he worse than any if these (who are there)? I just don’t understand. Against Switzerland, 'Ah, that's it. Old f*ck. Nobody needs you.' Against Morocco, 0-1, 'Oh! Where is Cristiano?'"

Ronaldo is the top scorer in the history of club and international football and he is also the highest appearance maker in international football history. The 38-year-old has so far scored 123 goals in 200 appearances for his national team. Dzyuba thinks the player's achievements speak for themselves and he should still be an undisputed starter for the national team as his quality remains unmatched.

Cristiano Ronaldo has started the 2023-24 season in style

Cristiano Ronaldo has been in great form for Al-Nassr so far this season and has scored six goals in six matches this term. He helped Al-Alamy win the Arab Cup of Champions, finishing as the top scorer of the tournament.

Ronaldo scored a brace in the final against Al-Hilal as well to secure a come-from-behind 2-1 win for Luis Castro's team and the win handed the legendary Portuguese his first trophy in Saudi Football.

Ronaldo, however, sustained an injury in extra time of that match against Al-Hilal and had to be replaced. He missed the team's Saudi Pro League opener as a result and Al-Nassr lost 2-1 to Al-Ettifaq. Whether Cristiano Ronaldo plays a part in Al-Nassr's next game against Al-Taawoun on August 18 remains to be seen.