Cristiano Ronaldo has his chance at Euro redemption, 12 years later

In 2004, his Euro campaign ended in tears on home soil. In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo has the chance to lead Portugal to the winner's podium.

Jonathan Wilson | Jul 4, 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo has his chance at Euro redemption, 12 years later /

Cristiano Ronaldo stood in the center circle and wept, inconsolable. Portugal, after 17 years without defeat in Lisbon, had lost the one that really mattered, beaten 1-0 by Greece in the final of Euro 2004. Ronaldo was 19, prodigiously talented, and saw a dream thwarted. That was 12 years ago today and Portugal again contemplates a week that could end with it, at last, winning its first senior international trophy.

After the Czech Republic had fallen to Greece in the 2004 semifinal, the way seemed clear for Portugal, the host, even though it had lost to Greece in the opening game of the tournament, It didn’t work out like that. Angelos Charisteas headed in a 57th-minute corner and the party Portugal had planned was abruptly canceled.

Twice Ronaldo had chances to level. Two minutes after the goal, he was thwarted by the Greece goalkeeper Antonios Nikopoloidis. A quarter of an hour later, in space in the penalty area, he blazed over the bar. The gasp of the crowd sounded like a nation being deflated.

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"We had a fantastic team and we have played a great tournament and we don’t deserve to lose like this," Ronaldo insisted, a claim that foreshadowed his comments after the draw against Iceland in this tournament about the sheer unfairness of a team that had the audacity to play defensively against his Portugal.

FARBER: In Iceland, celebration after Euro 2016 defeat

He was upset, he said, because he was “an ambitious person” and he wanted to be “the champion of Europe at 19 years of age." But there was a vow for the future.

"I have to move on," he said. "I have to look forward. There will be many other opportunities to win in Europe throughout my career, and make up for this huge disappointment."

The attitude may be familiar, the face, even the haircut, much the same.

First Look: Portugal vs. Wales in Euro 2016 semifinals

But the Ronaldo of 12 years ago is physically strikingly different to the modern version, thinner, more willowy, a player who still seemed at heart a tricky winger. A relentless will to improve, a rigorous discipline, hours and hours in the gym have transformed him into an unimpeachable block of muscle, but lithe, explosively quick muscle. He is the physical template to which other forwards should aspire, big, strong, supple, ferociously quick and powerful in the air.

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Perhaps the acceleration is not so searing as it once was, perhaps at 31, age is beginning to pluck at the legs a little. Certainly for his country, Ronaldo is increasingly a player who haunts the box. He doesn’t go looking for the ball deep; he waits for it to be delivered. But with this Portugal midfield, a bristling, increasingly effective unit, that makes sense. International football is not a subtle game, but Fernando Santos, the Portugal coach, seems to have pared it back more than most: he sits eight men deep and leaves his trickster duo of Nani and Ronaldo up front to conjure something.

GALLERY: Rare photos of Cristiano Ronaldo

Rare Photos of Cristiano Ronaldo

1987

A 23-month old Cristiano Ronaldo smiles for the camera.

2001

Cristiano Ronaldo practices with Portugal U17.

2002

Cristiano Ronaldo lies injured while playing for Sporting Lisbon before his transfer to the English Premiership team Manchester United.

2003

Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United teammates Diego Forlan and Ruud van Nistelrooy pose with Casey Ogden during the players' annual visit to children's hospitals in Manchester.

2005

Cristiano Ronaldo was the center of attention during an appearance on Herman SIC

2006

Cristiano Ronaldo attends Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics tour at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

2007

After giving Christmas gifts to a group of underprivileged children, Cristiano Ronaldo takes time to sign autographs.

2007

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu attend the debut of the New Seven Wonders of the World at Luz stadium in Lisbon.

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo and Adrian Grenier strike a pose during a party in Hollywood.

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo didn't let an injury get in the way of his beach time during a visit to Malibu.

2008

Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo with his Barclays Player of the Year, Golden Boot and 30 League Goals awards at Carrington Training Ground in Manchester, England.

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo autographs a team jersey for a Saudi man after arriving at King Khaled airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo kisses his "Golden Shoe 2008" award, presented to Europe's best goal scorer.

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo and Portuguese national teammate Aziza Makukula pose in a cockpit on their way to Zurich.

2009

Alejandro Gonzalez/Real Madrid via Getty Images

WWE star Rey Mysterio with Cristiano Ronaldo as they visit Valdebebas in Madrid.

2010

Elisa Estrada/Real Madrid via Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo with Russell Crowe during the actor's visit to Madrid.

2009

Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani celebrate in the dressing room after the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford in Manchester.

2010

Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez pose with Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open tennis tournament.

2010

Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Da Silvano Restaurant in New York City after having lunch.

2011

Cristiano Ronaldo and girlfriend, model Irina Shayk, watch Rafael Nadal serve during a tennis match on day nine of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open.

2011

Cristiano Ronaldo participates in a kart race with his Real Madrid teammates at Carlos Sainz Center in Madrid.

2011

Cristiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk attend the Marie Claire Prix de la Mode gala at the French Ambassador's Residence in Madrid.

2012

Cristiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk attend the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at La Caja Magica.

2012 Cristiano Ronaldo and Queen Sofia of Spain

Queen Sofia of Spain presents Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo with the Ibero-American Community Trophy during the National Sports Awards ceremony at El Pardo Palace in Madrid.

2013

Cristiano Ronaldo leans in to kiss Irina Shayk as they attend the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at La Caja Magica.

2013

Angel Martinez/Real Madrid via Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo and former player David Beckham pose after a training session at UCLA Campus in Los Angeles.

2013

Jill Weisledero/Los Angeles Dodgers via Getty Images

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo kicks around a baseball as Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig looks on prior to the Dodgers game against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

2013

Cristiano Ronaldo launches his CR7 underwear line in Madrid.

2013

Cristiano Ronaldo attends the unveiling of his wax figure at the Museo de Cera (Wax Museum) in Madrid.

2014

FIFA Ballon d'Or nominee Cristiano Ronaldo, his son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr., and Irina Shayk arrive at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2013 at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland. Ronaldo won the award as FIFA top player over Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery.

2015

Alexander Hassenstein/FIFA via Getty Images

FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo signals during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland.

2016

Europa Press/Europa Press via Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo sprays his fragance 'Cristiano Ronaldo Legacy' at World Duty Free store at Barajas airport in Madrid.

Nani has earned 101 caps, Ronaldo 131. They had two years playing together at Manchester United. Given there are about five occasions in every game when Ronaldo throws his hands down in fury at what he sees as an error by Nani, that means he’s probably spent an entire 90 minutes of his life physically expressing his frustration at his younger teammate. But it was Nani’s pass to Ronaldo that unlocked Croatia in the best moment Portugal has produced in the tournament.

Despite no wins in regulation, Portugal one step from Euro final

Ronaldo hasn’t seemed quite himself in France. His two finishes against Hungary were superb, but in other games, his calibration has seemed slightly off, as though he were still suffering the affects of the injury that so clearly–for all the denials–hampered him in the Champions League final. His statistics are remarkable. His average of 7.2 shots per game is three higher than the next highest, that of Gareth Bale and Kevin De Bruyne.

But he’s dribbled remarkably little, completing just 0.4 per game, a lower figure than 171 other players in the tournament. This is the mature Ronaldo, the brooding, hulking king of the penalty area, far removed from the skipping sprite of the wing of 12 years ago.

CREDITOR: How France and Germany stack up in their semifinal

Yet the ambition remains, the desire to inspire Portugal to a first trophy. On his watch, Portugal has gotten to a World Cup semifinal and two European Championship semifinals. In the time before his debut, it had reached just one of each. And that’s despite Ronaldo being slightly let down by the generation that succeeded him. This squad features eight outfielders aged 30 or over and eight 24 or under: there are very few at what is traditionally considered a player's peak age.

Ricardo Carvalho, who at 38 played in each of the group games, is also a veteran of that 2004 final. Perhaps this time Portugal will end up on the other side of the storyline, as the unfancied defensive outsider edging out the host in the final.

For Ronaldo, at his curiously solipsistic world view, it would be the perfect tale of redemption.

Published Jul 4, 2016

JONATHAN WILSON

An accomplished author of multiple books, Jonathan Wilson is one of the world’s preeminent minds on soccer tactics and history.