Portugal’s Quaresma-Ronaldo dream ticket set to shine

A decade and a half ago two outrageously talented footballers exploded to prominence in the Portuguese capital. Even at an academy used to producing wingers of the very highest order, the same academy that had spawned the likes of Paulo Futre and Luís Figo, it was clear to see from the outset that in Ricardo Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo Sporting Clube de Portugal had two footballers with rare gifts on their books.

At the time most analysts were of the opinion that of the two, it was Quaresma who was the more likely to push on and become a global superstar. Ronaldo’s incredible drive for self-betterment not only rendered those initial forecasts erroneous, but also inadvertently cast something of a shadow on how Quaresma’s career would come to be judged.

It is commonplace to hear the words “wasted talent” linked to the now 32-year-old Besiktas winger, a harsh conclusion for a player who has won multiple championship titles in four countries (7 times he has lifted the league title) and played 50 times for Portugal. Yet, when set against his former Sporting team-mate, a player whose standards of dedication and commitment are impossible to match, the facile argument is trotted out again and again about how Quaresma’s poor attitude, indiscipline and lack of intelligence has rendered him a failure. His gypsy origins only help fuel the negative narrative.

Unfair reputation

“I’ve never smoked, never drunk, never experimented anything, but because I’m a gypsy it’s difficult to escape from this reputation,” Quaresma last week told Portuguese television channel SIC.

That is not to say he is a model professional. Lured by the bright lights and the chance of worldwide fame and/or maximisation of his bank balance, mistakes were clearly made, especially in his choice of clubs, the move to Barcelona when just a teenager, and the decision to head into the football obscurity of the Middle East when still having so much to offer two obvious examples.

But from the moment Quaresma interrupted his sojourn in the United Araba Emirates to re-sign for FC Porto in January 2014 we have seen a new maturity, both in his on-field decision making and his tranquillity off the pitch. “I admit I made mistakes and bad decisions,” he told Portuguese daily O Jogo at the time.

He was largely magnificent for the Dragons, the club where he enjoyed his greatest successes and where he is hero-worshipped. The king of the “trivela”, his incredible ability to hit shots and crosses with power and accuracy using the outside of his foot, had lost none of his irreverent creativity but was more inclined to use his special talents for the good of the team. In a disastrous 2013/14 season for Porto, Quaresma’s 10 goals in 24 games at least gave hope of a better year the following campaign, as Porto changed direction and turned to Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui.

Misunderstood

Only for another recurring problem to reappear. Although more willing to integrate himself into a team system, Quaresma’s football remains wild and untamed and some managers simply do not know how to take advantage of it. Wasted talent? That may be so, but by whom? On the evidence of his last Porto stint it was the coach and not the player who was the profligate one.

Lopetegui’s quest for complete control of the ball at all times, instructing his players to opt for safe passes and a slow build up in preference to quickening the pace of play and risk-taking was the very antithesis to Quaresma’s game. Nevertheless, “Harry Potter”, one of his many and perhaps his most apt nickname in Portugal, busily went about weaving his magic, scoring goals (including a brace against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals) and assisting at will. His sparkling performances made Lopetegui’s insistence on substituting him or starting him on the bench all the more bewildering.

Even more baffling was the club’s decision to ship the player out at the end of the season. “Still today I don’t understand why Porto – a team I love – got rid of me. Nobody at the club ever explained it to me,” said Quaresma in the SIC interview.

Porto’s loss was Besiktas’s gain. The Turkish side’s supporters idolise the winger in equal measure to Portistas, and Quaresma continued his excellent form, duly adding another league title to his collection at the end of the season.

Game-changer

One manager who has taken full advantage of Quaresma’s rebirth in the last two years is Portugal coach Fernando Santos. The former Greece manager earned a reputation in his previous international job for constructing defence-first stolid rather than spectacular sides so a role for Quaresma was not apparently obvious. Paradoxically, his ability to conjure something from nothing was crucial during a qualifying campaign where Portugal often struggled to create chances. Quaresma was highly effective coming off the bench, as against Denmark in Santos’s first game in charge, producing a sumptuous cross for Ronaldo to head in a stoppage time winner.

The former Sporting duo combined again brilliantly last week in Portugal’s final Euro 2016 warmup match against Estonia, Quaresma’s majestic trivela cross met by a thunderous diving header into the top corner by Ronaldo. The finish was stunning but it was outdone by the cross – a genial execution, an aesthetically beautiful football moment. Quaresma was simply unplayable that night, scoring two superb goals and producing three assists.

This came on the back of another outstanding goal against Norway in Portugal’s friendly two weeks ago. Even against England, when Quaresma played only a few minutes as a late substitute, he was inches away from a stunning goal, his curling shot from a tight angle after having flummoxed two English defenders skimming narrowly past the post with a helpless Joe Hart rooted to the spot.

His performances have surely done enough to earn him a starting spot alongside Ronaldo, Fernando Santos opting to play a mobile front two in a 4-4-2 system given Portugal’s lack of a high-quality centre-forward.

At long last, 15 years after Portugal fans first dreamed of seeing the duo tearing into opposition defences, Ronaldo and Quaresma are ready to resume their partnership, this time on a stage worthy of their remarkably untypical skills. Portugal may not win Euro 2016, but should the two Sporting alumni shine there will be no more entertaining team in France this summer.

by Tom Kundert