Cristiano Ronaldo collected the inaugural Nations League trophy from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and briefly slung it over his back like a shotgun before joining his teammates for the celebrations and fireworks.It was Joe Montana Hoodies Sweatshirts a moment to capture the nonchalant swagger of a sportsman who was the master of all he surveyed. A year earlier in 2018, Ronaldo had stunned the footballing world by ending his history-making stint at Real Madrid and joining Juventus.He scored 21 goals in his maiden Serie A season as Juve stormed to Scudetto glory. The 2018 World Cup hadn't gone completely to plan, with Portugal knocked out in the last 16.But that defeat came against a fine Uruguay side, where an inspired Edinson Cavani netted a sublime brace in a 2-1 victory. Disappointing, yes, but not a debacle.From a Portuguese perspective, the enduring memory of that campaign in Ru sia was Ronaldo's herculean hat-trick to snatch a 3-3 draw against old enemies Spain in the group stage.After winning and converting an early penalty and benefitting from a David De Gea howler, Cristiano dispatched a stunning 88th-minute free-kick to grab a point.MORE: It was a bravura performance, one to rank alongside his incredible heroics against Sweden and Ibrahimovic in 2013. However, such exploits did not feel quite as nece sary anymore. Fernando Santos' merry men who banded together for their Euro 2016 heist were now bolstered by an influx of exceptional players. Arguably the latest golden generation.Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves were among the players called up for the 2019 Nations League Finals on home soil who were not involved at Euro 2016.Ronaldo still fired another rollicking hat-trick in the semi-final win over Switzerland treble number seven of an international haul that now stands at 10 match balls but this could now be an ensemble effort, as evidenced by the 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final, where player of the tournament Bernardo teed up Goncalo Guedes for the winner. Ronaldo's best game for Portugal so far? in 2019, scored three against Switzerland! | UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) It meant an evening of joyous celebration at Porto's Estadio do Dragao, doing as much as po sible to exorcise the teenage Ronaldo's heartache at the same venue against Greece 15 years earlier.This was a team and a coach with the winning habit, with the promise of more riches to come and a group of exciting players who could mitigate the effects of any decline that might hinder their inimitable talisman in his advancing years.All of that seemed plausible and even Joe Montana Jersey likely in the warm afterglow on the banks of the Douro, but it has not panned out that way. When Santos relaxes into retirement, as most expect, at the end of his Portugal tenure, he will be a deeply loved and admired figure the man who got the Selecao over the line and proved the perfect foil for Ronaldo in 2016.MORE:But the attributes that made him ideal for that moment have increasingly come to be viewed as a hindrance. A pragmatic coach plotting a miserly route through a tournament with a limited squad was one thing; the sight of Santos being largely unable to shift gears when bequeathed with a fresh batch of attacking talent has been unbecoming.They were caught horribly between two stools in the second game of Euro 2020, when Germany's wingbacks ran roughshod over the Selecao defence to rack up a 4-2 win in what remains a heavily one-sided rivalry.Ronaldo opened the scoring in that match in Budapest and he finished the group stage with five goals. He netted doubles in the 3-0 win over Hungary and a high-quality 2-2 draw against a Karim Benzema-inspired France, with three of those penalties.That haul meant he finished as joint top scorer alongside the Czech Republic's Patrick Schick, despite a gruelling 1-0 lo s to Belgium in the last 16. It means Santos' Portugal head to the 2022 World Cup without a major knockout-stage win to their name since Euro 2016.Towering individual numbers from Ronaldo masking collective dysfunction have Patrick Willis Jersey been a theme of the recent past. When he completed the long-awaited feat of moving clear of Iran's Ali Daei to Trent Williams Jersey become the most prolific goalscorer in the history of international football, goals 110 and 111 of his career doubled up as a late World Cup qualification salvage job against the Republic of Ireland. Santos' side were facing defeat in Faro, with Ronaldo having a first-half penalty saved by Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu before John Egan opened the scoring in first-half injury time.Ultimately, the great man would not be denied, finding a typically towering header on the end of Guedes' 89th-minute cro s. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, he repeated the trick and peeled off his shirt to bask in yet another moment of historic triumph.Around that time, in the months after an emotional return to Manchester United, Ronaldo was also plundering late Champions League goals to bail out his misfiring club side. In December 2021, he burst through the landmark of 800 career goals, but there were uncomfortable questions to addre s.Should Ronaldo have had to be performing semi-regular miracles in teams where he was surrounded by other gifted players? And how culpable was he in such miracles being required in the first place?MORE:As the various records showed, he remained a goalscorer without compare and, as his physical gifts inevitably declined with age, he masterfully refined his craft. The all-action wrecking ball, a tornado of muscularity, stepovers and Exocet shots, was gone.Ronaldo now limited his work to the final third and generally in between the goalposts. Sheer weight of numbers made the effectivene s of this evolution hard to argue with. How could the guy scoring more goals than everyone else po sibly be the problem? He scored 31 goals as Juventus won Serie A by a point in 2019/20.The following season he was the division's top scorer with 29, but Juve playing under their third coach in three years ceded the Scudetto for the first time since 2010/11. The Champions League glory that Ronaldo was brought in to inspire was no closer to fruition.And so, back to Manchester. He thrilled Old Trafford with a brace on his second debut against Newcastle. Another double to burgle a draw at Atalanta at the start of November meant he had nine in 11 matches but, before the month was out, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been sacked as a United side that had finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the previous Premier League season descended into mid-table shambles.Interim bo s Ralf Rangnick and long-term succe sor Erik ten Hag each did not see eye- Fred Warner Jersey to-eye with Cristiano, most notably the Dutchman who has confined him to a peripheral role after a late return to pre-season training.That was on account of a family i sue but unhelpfully came amid widespread reports that Ronaldo was