Cristiano Ronaldo undervalued in Portugal – Fernando Santos

Fernando Santos is baffled by what her perceives to be an underappreciation of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal.

Ronaldo is his country’s most-capped player in history and all-time leading goalscorer, finding the net 71 times in 138 international appearances.

The 32-year-old captained Portugal to their first senior international title at Euro 2016 in France, though injury forced him off in the first half of the final victory over the hosts.

Despite all Ronaldo’s achievements – which include four Ballons d’Or, three Premier League titles, a hat-trick of Champions Leagues and LaLiga glory in 2011-12 – Santos thinks he is not recognised with the appropriate merit in his homeland.

“Sometimes I don’t understand how we Portuguese sometimes value Cristiano so little,” Santos told reporters.

“In qualifying for the European Championship and after the first games of the finals it was said he did not score goals, that he would not open the floodgates.

“Then, when he started scoring goals, we saw the other side.

“But Cristiano Ronaldo always scores. I’ve known him since he was 18 and he’s always been the same, he’s always scored and will continue to do so.”