The Cristiano Ronaldo Conundrum for Portugal | OneFootball

Out of all 48 teams in the World Cup, there has been no other team that has looked so distinctively different in their first and second game than Portugal. That applies to the whole team, including the manager, but even more so to Cristiano Ronaldo.

If the first game against DR Congo showed all the disadvantages of having a 41-year-old lead the attack for your team at the World Cup, the game against Uzbekistan demonstrated everything the 41-year-old in question can still bring to the table.

Ronaldo was awarded the man of the match, and deservedly so; he was a constant presence in attack, getting a total of 10 touches in the opposition box, which included two well-finished goals, and acted as the perfect decoy for Nuno Mendes to score his free kick. His movement was also troubling the Uzbek goalkeeper on more than one occasion. All of this was a complete contrast to what went down in the last game, where he looked completely toothless.

His performance and the team as a whole proved that most of the noise coming in the aftermath of last week’s game was a little overblown. But it should be given enough attention that some of the concerns that were raised, such as his work rate, are something to keep an eye on.

First and foremost, looking at both teams on face value, they don’t look that different. DR Congo, as of writing, is ranked 47th in the world, while Uzbekistan is 58th. Making their second and first-ever appearance at the World Cup, respectively. The difference lies in their lineup; the playing eleven Uzbekistan fielded against Portugal had only three players who were playing club football in Europe, two of them in Turkey. DR Congo, however, had multiple Premier League, Ligue 1, and La Liga players.

I’m not trying to make a comment on the quality of these leagues, but the DR Congo players have prior experience facing these players. The likes of Wan-Bissaka and Tuanzebe have faced Fernandes and Neto multiple times before. Mbemba and Masuaku are familiar with how Vitinha and Nuno Mendes play. The players from Uzbekistan have not.

This was reflected in both matches; both teams conceded in the first ten minutes, but DR Congo remained calm and was able to claw themselves back into the game. Uzbekistan meanwhile, lost all composure and was visibly overwhelmed against Portugal.

So, the match against Uzbekistan shouldn’t be considered as the ultimate sign that Cristiano Ronaldo should start every game and play the full 90 minutes. But the question that arises after is, who else? That is valid, though, Portugal has not had the greatest of luck in unearthing quality strikers to play up front. The promise shown never actually translates into consistent performances.

Andre Silva debuted in the aftermath of Portugal winning the EURO’s back in 2016, Silva then just 20 years of age, started off strong, finding the back off the net 5 times in his first six games.

Impressive as that maybe it wouldn’t last, since then he has only scored 14 goals in 47 games, his last appearance came against South Korea in the previous World Cup. This wasn’t just a case of struggling at national level, looking at his club record, other than a solitary season at Eintracht Frankfurt, he hasn’t been able to score more than 16 goals a season in all competitions.

If Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia is an indictment on his current abilities as a footballer, then what does that say about Joao Felix, who found himself playing alongside the superstar at Al Nassr aged 25. After his blockbuster €126 million move to Atletico Madrid in 2019, which made him the second most expensive teenager in football behind only Kylian Mbappe, he had failed to score double digits until moving to Al Nassr, failing to do so at Atletico, Barcelona, Chelsea, and AC Milan. For his country, he has only scored 12 times in 54 games until now, which isn’t all that great either.

The latest up-and-comers are still a work in progress, with Fabio Silva scoring just twice in 28 appearances this season after moving to Borussia Dortmund, and Youssef Chermiti only just having his breakout season at Rangers, scoring 15 goals in 30 matches. However, there is one stand out among all these, and that is Goncalo Ramos.

Ramos entered the public consciousness after scoring a hat-trick against Switzerland in the round of 16 at the previous World Cup, starting as a replacement for Ronaldo; this also happened to be his first ever start for his country. Since then, he has scored 10 goals in 26 matches so far, notably 9 of those goals has come when Ronaldo was not on the pitch, and 8 of his 10 goals were when he was in the playing 11.

There is a case to be made that manager Roberto Martinez has not given him enough chances in relation to his performances, but the argument against him is that he does not start for his club, Paris Saint-Germain.

That argument holds little weight when you consider the fact that PSG is arguably the best team in world football, plus it does say something that the club chose to keep him over a €75 million signing, Randal Kolo Muani, who also joined the club in the same window as Ramos.

Even as a substitute, he gets regular minutes at the club, scoring a goal every 120 minutes across the last three seasons. That number goes down even further, scoring a goal every 100 minutes or so for Portugal.

The Ronaldo Conundrum: Lisbon, we have a problem.

So, what should Portugal do?

Well, they can’t just drop Ronaldo after a performance like this, as it showed that if the service is adequate, he can still. But on the contrary, the DR Congo game showed that if the service dries up, he can also be a net negative, factoring in defence from open play.

Additionally, the strategy of Ronaldo playing the full 90 minutes every game is a risk considering the gap between matches gets shorter from this point on. Even if it’s just as a substitute, Ramos should get minutes; no one other than Ronaldo has scored more since his debut, and keep in mind that he primarily plays a substitute.

The final group game against Colombia should serve as a proving ground for where they are as a team and if Ronaldo can still be effective in high-profile games.

Read – FIFA World Cup 2026: Every team in the Round of 32 so far

See more – World Cup Day 15: Ecuador shock Germany as six teams go through

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