Tommy Martin: Has Cristiano Ronaldo gone back to being a cod?

Why won't the superstar grow old gracefully?

TEARS OF A COD? Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is consoled by Diogo Dalot at half-time of extra-time after missing a penalty during the UEFA Euro 2024 match. Pic: Bradley Collyer, PA Wire.

The debate about Cristiano Ronaldo’s display in Monday night’s Euro 2024 last 16 encounter between Portugal and Slovenia boiled down to where one stood in relation to the immortal question, once famously posed by Eamon Dunphy, as to whether that guy Ronaldo is, indeed, a cod.

Were the tears shed by the Portuguese captain upon having his extra-time penalty saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak the self-pitying act of an attention-seeking narcissist, or evidence of the emotional toll of years carrying a nation’s hopes on his shoulders? Was it the human side of the superhuman or the baby side of the big baby? Was he showing how much he cared, or simply how much he cared about himself? All different versions of the cod question.