Portugal’s former World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has laid the blame of his country’s exit from the 2010 World Cup finals solely on coach Carlos Queiroz’s feet as the Real Madrid star contemplates another failure on the international stage after Spain beat their Iberian neighbours 1-0 in a second round clash on Tuesday.

Ronaldo rarely found any joy in a defensive approach adopted by Queiroz against Spain and has rarely shone on the stage in South Africa despite breaking his scoring drought with a decidedly fortunate goal against North Korea during the group stages. The Portuguese star may have played marginally better than his former Manchester United strike partner – England flop Wayne Rooney – but Ronaldo would have done nothing to silence the critics who have labelled him as a player who often chokes on the biggest stage.

However, Ronaldo has now blamed Queiroz for his non-performance and Portugal’s now-familiar failure to fulfill their potential internationally despite having a squad arguably as talented as any of their European neighbours like Spain and Holland.

When interviewed by reporters at the end of the second round defeat to Spain, Ronaldo refused to attribute the result to any of his team mates and the Portugal captain instead turned the spotlight on his coach: “How do I explain Portugal’s elimination? Talk to Carlos Queiroz.”

Queiroz has often been the target of criticism by Portuguese media and fans for his defensive approach – which contributed to just one win in South Africa for his team – the 7-0 thrashing of North Korea. The team struggled to reach the finals during their qualifiers and only just made it when stringing together four wins in their last four games to edge out Sweden before beating Bosnia Herzegovina in a play-off.

Ronaldo, who appeared confused on the pitch with the on-going tactical changes by Queiroz, has also rarely shone in his national shirt. The world’s most expensive player did not score a single goal during the qualifiers and only broke his two year scoring drought against North Korea due to a lucky bounce of the ball.

After firing off his terse broadside, Ronaldo walked off and refused to offer any more insights on the game.

Tags: Carlos Queiroz, Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, World Cup, World Cup 2010