Portugal media slams out of form Cristiano

Portugal’s press on Thursday hailed the national side’s last-gasp 3-2 victory against Denmark to kick-start their Euro 2012 campaign, but reflected on star player Cristiano Ronaldo’s failure to shine. “Portugal won ‘without’ Ronaldo, who missed two unbelievable chances,” said the sports daily A Bola, while its competitor Record headlined its front page “Thanks Varela”, referring to substitute Silvestre Varela, who scored the winner. The Diario de Noticias added: “Portuguese character shown without Ronaldo: an 87th minute goal gave Portugal a precious victory during a match where Pepe and Nani played leading roles and made up for Ronaldo’s misses.” For Publico “Portugal stayed in the Euro” thanks to “accidental hero Varela and despite ‘Ronaldo’s lack of inspiration”, also describing the Real Madrid star as “superhero on a bad day”. “Ronaldo needs a psychologist,” columnist Bruno Par said, assessing that “someone needs to bring his anxiety under control”.