Portugal has been advised to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench to stand a chance of winning the 2024 European Championship.
Ronaldo had already been dropped during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and came off the bench in the round of 16 loss to Morocco.
The 39-year-old has been fine form the national side after finishing with ten goals in the European Championship qualifiers, but former Liverpool star Patrick Berger feels the five-time Ballon d'Or winner should be benched.
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"His age is still a factor, even if he is one of the very best footballers of all time. But, he is 39. I actually thought that he shouldn't have been starting at the World Cup just over 18 months ago," Berger told BoyleSports.
"I thought he would have been better off coming from the bench for the last 20 or 25 minutes. He will always create chances, it doesn't matter if it is in 90 minutes or the last 25.
"It would have been better for the whole team in Qatar, but with his ego and stuff like that it makes it hard to drop him.
"If he starts against the Czech Republic at Euro 2024, I would be happy. I think they have such a great team Portugal and can win the entire tournament, even without Ronaldo in the starting XI.
"They have a much bigger chance if he doesn't play every single game from the start. If he's on the bench, I would be more concerned.
"I think if they had done that in Qatar they could have got as far as the final.”
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