Portugal itself is playing against Portugal.

 Portugal: What’s the point of being talented if the intent is wrong?

There are quite a few good players and good play.

But the intention is not right.

The bad intentions of their players didn’t just emerge now.

That ill-intent — which can’t even be called intent — was already on display in the last World Cup too.

And that same ill-intent appears to be continuing even now.

If a community does not change itself, neither God nor anyone else will change them (Quran).

No one — not even God — can change such people.

Because all change comes from within. Not from outside. No change can be forced from the outside.

That’s why Portugal alone is enough to defeat Portugal.

Portugal itself is playing against Portugal.

Despite having a world-class player like Ronaldo — someone who defies age — as captain, the other players in the Portugal team tried very sincerely and successfully to avoid making the best use of him.

So whenever Ronaldo was in a position to score, the team did everything possible to avoid giving him a cross and creating opportunities for him.

Portugal is a masterclass in cutting the branch you’re sitting on.

Watching Portugal play against Congo yesterday felt like a team that would rather see a daughter-in-law cry than care if their own son died — a team hellbent on spite.

Despite having every opportunity to create chances, this is the most talented team I’ve ever seen so deliberately choose not to.

But a question arises:

Didn’t Ronaldo miss the two chances he did get?

First: Those two were not well-crafted, set-up chances at all.

Second: For an elite striker like Ronaldo, should 90 minutes of football yield only two half-chances that weren’t even proper opportunities?

They weren’t great chances. Ronaldo wasn’t in an ideal position. He was to the right, outside the post.

Even so, he did what he could in that moment — and didn’t miss badly given the circumstances.

They were split-second situations — two balls that just arrived with no real setup. Not planned moves or deliberate passes.

What was planned: making sure Ronaldo got as few opportunities as possible.

Throughout the entire match, the team showed remarkable “care” in avoiding crosses to Ronaldo. Whenever a cross was due to him, each player chose to go alone instead.

It felt to me like clear factionalism and an anti-Ronaldo agenda.

If this is how things are, Portugal — or any team or nation in any field — cannot succeed.

It even made me wonder if the team was actively playing against Ronaldo.

What incredible effort — just to sideline him.