Why Nani's Place in Portugal's Starting XI Is Under Threat Ahead of Euro 2016

We spoke about Ricardo Quaresma on these pages just a few days ago. The Portugal winger’s career has long been fodder for such discussions, of course.

We talked about the fallen idol, the career which could have been and the real sense of underachievement from a player who once promised so much. Obviously, something similar would have been written somewhere before, such has been his up, down and even further down existence.

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All of that had come into sharp focus with the Besiktas man’s fine performance and even finer goal in Portugal’s 3-0 friendly win over Norway in Porto as their preparations for the Euro 2016 finals kicked up a notch.

However, everyone is aware that the 32-year-old has a tendency to make such praise look foolhardy almost instantly. Disappointment has followed him around repeatedly, but it is the flashes of genius which make him worth persevering with.

But fast forward to Lisbon on Wednesday—via London and Bruno Alves’ kung-fu kick on Harry Kane—and we saw a performance from Quaresma which indicated that he might be about to display consistency for the first time in living memory.

As Portugal coach Fernando Santos named a strong side for the friendly clash with Estonia in the capital, Quaresma’s display was one of both energy and intelligence. Crucially, he looked at home in a side with Cristiano Ronaldo as its de facto dominant force.

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Quaresma and Ronaldo both scored twice as the Portuguese put seven goals past Estonia in front of 52,000 hopeful home supporters, and although the opposition might not have been the strongest, the result will have given huge cheer to Santos ahead of his side entering Euro 2016 combat against Iceland in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday.

Of course, the focus was on Ronaldo in the friendly. He wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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The Real Madrid icon warmed up for France in style, trotting around for 45 minutes and scoring two goals, but with Quaresma impressing in attack alongside him and young talents such as Joao Mario, Andre Gomes and Renato Sanches all doing their bit, there was one man who would be forgiven for not smiling as broadly as his team-mates.

Portugal’s vice-captain Nani came on at half-time for Ronaldo in Lisbon, and given that you can rest assured that it would take something drastic for “CR7” to leave proceedings before he had to over the next month, that in itself has presented a problem for the Fenerbahce winger.

Once the great hope of the post-Ronaldo Manchester United, Nani could—and probably will—win a 100th cap for his country in France, but instead of Quaresma, should it now be his career which draws the mentions of “what-might-have-beens”?

It could end up doing so if he becomes a mere add-on in a Portugal squad heading to Euro 2016 in thrall with the genius of Ronaldo, the rebirth of Quaresma and the promise of several talented youngsters.

Nani suddenly becomes yesterday’s man in all of that, with a career spent playing second fiddle to Ronaldo leaving him something of a forlorn, isolated figure. He’s capable of so much, yet he often seems inhibited by his ability to produce it.

Whereas Ronaldo left Sporting Lisbon and took on the world, Nani recently found himself back there—his loan spell failing to result in a permanent deal and ending with last year’s switch to Turkey.

His international career has been, like many a Portuguese player, pockmarked with failures on the biggest stages. While there was always Ronaldo, the players around him never quite deemed up to it, and as the most high profile of them, Nani suffered more than most.

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Harsh? Definitely, but it could also be said that Nani has been guilty of taking his place in the Portugal team for granted over these barren years.

Now, with Santos under pressure to pick an exciting, attacking team to complement Ronaldo for the match against Iceland, his isn’t the name on the lips of an expectant Portugal fanbase.

They want to see the young players flourish and, at this moment in time, would be happier to trust the enigmatic talents of Quaresma over a player whose stock has fallen as quickly as he did during one of those goal-celebration somersaults in his youth.

It seemed that anything was possible back then, but now at 29 and looking increasingly likely to start Euro 2016 on the bench, Nani could easily be viewed as a boy who never grew up.