Ronaldo upstaged by Porto reserve striker
Reuters - Thursday 14 June 2012, 09:35
Silvestre Varela could
not even hold down a regular starting place at Porto this season
yet he still managed to upstage unhappy Cristiano Ronaldo in
Portugal's 3-2 win over Denmark at Euro 2012.
The 27-year-old, whose market value of about seven million
euros is less than a tenth of Ronaldo's, needed
three minutes to do what the Real Madrid forward could not do in
90 on Wednesday as he snatched the winner in the Group B game.
There was more than a hint of good fortune about his goal as
Varela took a swipe at the ball, missed it completely then got a
second bite of the cherry and whacked it into the net.
But the winger, who came on in the 84th minute and scored
three minutes later, needed a lucky break after experiencing the
unglamorous side of football several times in his career.
Having been raised at Sporting and having played for
Portugal at under-21 level, Varela could not get in the team and
was loaned out to Vitoria Setubal and then Spanish side
Recreativo Huelva.
He barely had time to settle down on his return before
Sporting sold him to Estrela Amadora. Things then began to look
up and, after one season, he moved to Porto where he made an
impressive start.
However, it all went wrong again in 2010 when, only days
after making his Portugal debut, he broke his leg in training,
ending his chances of a place in the World Cup squad.
BIT-PART ROLE
Having returned to fitness, he found himself squeezed out of
Porto's first team by the club's army of South American players,
playing only a bit-part in the team's various title wins.
Despite only 13 league starts for Porto this season, scoring
three goals, Portugal coach Paulo Bento decided he was still
good enough to earn a place in their Euro 2012 squad.
A man of few words, even by the standards of Portuguese
players who are notorious for limiting their comments to a
handful of generic phrases, he told reporters: "I'm happy but
this was a team goal.
"You have to be ready to enter the pitch and we have to keep
working."
With Varela almost certain to be back on the bench for the
decisive game against the Netherlands on Sunday, Bento said he
did not mind who scored the goals as long as somebody did.
"We have played two good games against two good teams," he
said.
"We are playing the way we set out to play and it's all
going to be settled in the final match. The goals will come,
whether it is with Ronaldo or a different player."
In what could become a very complicated scenario, a win over
Netherlands would give Portugal a strong chance of qualifying
for the quarter-finals but would not guarantee it.