Cristiano Ronaldo has found his goal scoring touch for Portugal once again at the FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo blasted home a shot just over five minutes in against Uzbekistan to end multiple lengthy goal droughts, at least by his lofty standards. He then scored a second goal just over 30 minutes later to put Portugal up 3-0 in the first half.
With the first goal, he became the first player to score at six different World Cups. With the second, he became Portugal’s all-time leading goal-scorer at World Cups.
Entering Tuesday’s Ronaldo had gone four straight matches for Portugal without a goal and 10 straight games without a goal at major tournaments. His previous most recent goal at a major tournament came in Portugal’s opener at Qatar 2022.
Ronaldo appeared to have a clear chance to score again just 10 minutes after his first, but ceded a free kick just outside the box to Nuno Mendes, who extended Portugal’s lead to 2-0.
For the second straight game, Ronaldo played the entirety of the match, with Portugal earning a 5-0 win.
The 41-year-old Ronaldo was a largely ineffective figure in the team’s 1-1 draw against Congo DR on Matchday 1.
Both Ronaldo’s manager and his teammates came to his defence after the match.
“Cristiano is the best one to do that,” Roberto Martinez responded when asked what’s needed to spark the Portugal attack. “The numbers support this of this iconic player who is Cristiano Ronaldo. If you look at the past 32 games, he is the player that has extra movement opening spaces and finding pockets.”
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Joao Neves’s fairly innocuous quote after the draw last week was met with backlash in Portugal, with some pundits suggesting the team’s knives were out for Ronaldo.
“We know what Ronaldo has done for our national team, but at this moment I feel that for him, and for everyone, he’s one of us,” Neves said. “He’s one more player trying to help, he’s no different to the others. He’s here to contribute like we all will.”
More details to follow.
