Ronaldo injury update: Star player stretchered off

Portugal has to win their first ever trophy without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Heading into the Euro 2016 Final, Portugal was considered a huge underdog against France, mostly because they took a fairly easy route to the Finals, and they were playing against the host nation. But their chances took a huge dip when Cristiano Ronaldo, far and away their best player, left the game on a stretcher.

He had a nasty collision with Dimitri Payet earlier in the game, and had to leave for a bit. He came back into the game, trying to play through the injury, but Portugal coach Fernando Santos wasn’t taking any chances and took him off for Ricardo Quaresma. Ronaldo’s tournament is over, and he was subbed off for the first time in a competitive international match since the 2006 World Cup.

This is, without question, a huge loss for Portugal, and if France go on to win, many will fail to acknowledge it since they did it against a shorthanded opponent. Even though he wasn’t Portugal’s top scorer, him and Nani share that distinction, Ronaldo is one of the top two players in football today, and he has a transformative impact on any team.

You never want to see a player that good go down in the Final, and while some people may make fun of him for crying, you can’t help but feel bad for him considering what’s at stake for his team.

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Portugal have gotten to the Final by playing solid defense. If they can somehow neutralize the threat of Antoine Griezmann, the tournament’s leading scorer, and get the game to a penalty shootout, where anything can happen, they might have a chance. But the odds are very much stacked against them.

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