LUSAIL, Qatar -- Portugal manager Fernando Santos now has a level of control over Cristiano Ronaldo that Erik ten Hag created at Manchester United.
We all know how that turned out -- Ronaldo's Old Trafford contract ripped up last month in an acrimonious exit -- but Portugal showed on Tuesday night that a similar implosion is not inevitable for their captain in Qatar.
Santos felt compelled to remind the 37-year-old is part of a team, no longer an untouchable immune from the disciplinary conventions that bind mere mortals. The petulance Ronaldo showed in reacting negatively to his substitution against South Korea was a reminder of the behaviour that led to his departure from United; his devoted supporters viewing any diminishing status as disrespect, his critics fuelled by evidence Ronaldo is incapable of controlling his rage at the inexorable dying of the light.