London (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo heads to a record sixth World Cup blessed with a prodigiously talented group of team-mates as Portugal target glory for the first time on the global stage. Roberto Martinez’s side are strong favourites to progress from Group K where they face DR Congo and tournament debutants Uzbekistan before the tricky test of Colombia.
Ronaldo and long-term rival Lionel Messi are set to make more history by becoming the first players to feature in six World Cups. But since finishing fourth in Ronaldo’s debut tournament in 2006, Portugal have rarely threatened to go all the way despite boasting the highest goalscorer in the history of international football on 143. Now 41, Ronaldo’s presence has been seen as a major factor in Portugal sides not maximising their potential in recent tournaments. The Al-Nassr forward has failed to score in his last nine matches at the World Cup and Euros combined. Ronaldo was even dropped by Fernando Santos in favour of Goncalo Ramos during the 2022 World Cup.
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But Martinez has remained fiercely loyal to Ronaldo and with some justification. He scored in the quarter-final, semi-final, and final as Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win the Nations League last year. Ronaldo also plundered five goals in as many qualifiers before a red card against the Republic of Ireland. A lesser light would likely have been banned for the start of the tournament, but Ronaldo escaped with just a one-match suspension. Martinez’s reasoning for backing Ronaldo also reveals a lack of other credible options up front. Portugal’s true strength lies with arguably the best collection of midfielders at the World Cup. Paris Saint-Germain pair Vitinha and Joao Neves line up alongside Premier League player of the year Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.
Colombia are led by their own ageing national hero in James Rodriguez, 12 years on from the tournament that made him a global superstar. Despite a nomadic and largely ineffective club career in recent years, James, 34, remains an integral part of the Colombia side which reached the Copa America final two years ago and finished third in South American qualifying. Luis Diaz is now the talisman for Los Cafeteros and arrives at the World Cup on the back of the best club season of his career at Bayern Munich.
Colombia tickets have been among the most in demand of any in the tournament and they are sure to be backed by a huge travelling and ex-pat support. That makes life all the more difficult for Uzbekistan and DR Congo to upset the odds against the two big group favourites. Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov is the star name among an Uzbekistan squad made up largely of domestically-based players. However, there is World Cup winning experience on the Uzbek bench in Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy to success in 2006.
DR Congo’s only previous World Cup experience came 52 years ago, when they were known as Zaire, and left Germany without a point or goal to their name. A squad containing the likes of Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa, Sunderland midfielder Noah Sadiki and West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be targeting at least a first World Cup win. Sebastien Desabre’s side beat both Cameroon and Nigeria in play-offs to earn their place at the tournament.
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