Ronaldo backed by former team-mate Brown for Euro 2024 recovery due to unrivalled mentality

Cristiano Ronaldo will bounce back from his Euro 2024 disappointment and find form due to his elite mentality, according to former Manchester United team-mate Wes Brown.

The Portugal captain is the record appearance maker (29) and goalscorer (14) at the Euros, yet has failed to find the back of the net in this edition of the competition.

Ronaldo was reduced to tears after his penalty was saved by Jan Oblak in extra time before making amends and scoring in their last-16 penalty shoot-out win over Slovenia.

That brought questions once more over the veteran forward’s ability and influence for Roberto Martinez’s side, who face France in the quarter-finals on Friday.

However, Brown, who spent six years with Ronaldo at Manchester United, believes his former team-mate has the mentality to recover and prove his doubters wrong in Germany.

“Mentality [wise], there’s no one better,” Brown said, speaking to Stats Perform at the Home of Adidas football in Berlin.

“He’d be disappointed he didn’t score the penalty in normal time, that would have frustrated him, but there were a lot of people I was talking to, and they thought he might not even start games.

“I totally disagreed and thought he’s still got it to perform. He will be disappointed he’s not scored, but he’s a team player, he’s won the competition before, and he just wants to do well, helping the team.”

20 – Cristiano Ronaldo attempted 20 shots without scoring at the #EURO2024 – only four players have taken more shots without scoring at a single EURO tournament since 1980. Drought. #PORSLO pic.twitter.com/ccOdUziwps

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) July 1, 2024

Though the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a list of records to his name, he has added some unwanted statistics to his displays after an underwhelming Euro 2024.

Ronaldo is the biggest expected goals (xG) underperformer in the tournament (0 goals from 2.75 xG), while he has had nine shots on target, which is the joint-highest along with Germany’s Kai Havertz.

No player has had as many shots as Ronaldo during UEFA’s flagship international competition either. He is five clear of any other player, while only Havertz has a higher xG (3.6 to Ronaldo’s 2.75).