Was this the most unfortunate Portuguese player not to make the World Cup squad?
He scored a miraculous 15 league goals for Monaco last season, chipped in with a further 7 assists in the process, and did not miss a single Ligue 1 match in the whole campaign.
With these stats, added to the fact that he played over 3,000 minutes of football across all competitions - including five appearances in Europe's most illustrious competition - many would have been forgiven for expecting a winger with such exceptional talent and flair to be a shoe-in for a spot at the 2018 World Cup - yet that wasn't the case for Rony Lopes.
With a goalscoring record to rival many top out-and-out strikers in world football, in addition to offering a clear-cut creative outlet for his side, Lopes was very much one of the outstanding Portuguese performers of all of last season and was arguably Monaco's greatest player of the season.
Indeed, with an excellent technique, quality dribbling ability and his creative and inspirational style, he's a constant threat for the opposition, and there's little to his game that one could really criticise. An yet, in reality, very few Seleção fans across the globe were begging for his World Cup call-up - and even fewer expected him to get one.
That is most certainly testament to the strength in depth Portugal have in the attacking department. With a squad boasting talent such as Bernardo Silva, Gonçalo Guedes, Ricardo Quaresma, Gelson Martins, Andre Silva and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, taking another forward in Rony Lopes was very much low priority.
Also competing with Lopes were the likes of Nani - the experienced winger and a European Champion after playing a significant part in Portugal's heroics two years ago - Bruma, the young and explosive Leipzig forward, and Benfica's record signing Rafa. All of which also failed to make the cut for the competition in Russia a few weeks ago.
It is therefore not a huge surprise to recall that the desperation for Lopes' inclusion was few and far between, despite his exceptional performances for Monaco.
Indeed, while Portuguese football fans are generally a knowledgeable bunch who will have been following their national stars from across the continent closely throughout the season - and will therefore have been fully aware of the stunning performances offered up by Rony Lopes in France - his place for the World Cup was, by and large, already taken, and the lack of uproar regarding his omission from the squad is not a slight on his ability, but a spotlight on the increasingly competitive nature of the Portugal national team over the years.
Hindsight, however, is a wonderful thing, and with Portugal enduring a disappointing World Cup campaign - being knocked out in the Round of 16 at the hands of Uruguay - it is easy to say that, with a player like Rony Lopes in the side, it could have been a different story.
Gelson Martins, for example, who did get a call-up, failed to make any significant impact at the tournament, and while he also came off the back of a phenomenal season with Sporting - getting himself 8 goals and nine assists from right wing - his number did not match those of Rony Lopes, who arguably did it in an even more competitive league.
Gelson's lack of consistency on the international stage - where he has now yet to score in 19 senior caps for Portugal - also meant that his inclusion could, looking back, be considered something of a mistake. No blame can be put on Portugal manager Fernando Santos, of course, with the vast majority of the nation also agreeing with his decision to call him up, and his recent move to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid also shows that he's an incredibly talented player, but Rony Lopes can count himself incredibly unfortunate to have missed the flight to Russia despite his truly outstanding performances last season.
We now wait with anticipation to see if he will be included in the squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League, which kicks off on September 10th with Portugal taking on former World Champions Italy. He most certainly deserves it.
