Houston (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo declared “I’m back” and said those “attacking” him should never write him off after making World Cup history in a 5-0 hammering of Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Houston. The 41-year-old, under pressure to deliver after a barren recent run at major tournaments, pounced after six minutes to become the first player to score in six World Cup campaigns. He added a second with a smart finish before half-time as Roberto Martinez’s side ran riot against limited opposition.
The five-star display was in stark contrast to a stale 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in which Ronaldo was laboured and largely anonymous. That sparked renewed calls in some quarters for Martinez to drop the veteran captain, with Ronaldo, the coach, and the team all facing flak at home. Ronaldo shouted into a television camera, “I’m back, I’m back,” and said after his two-goal display: “I can say it was a very tough week, a difficult week, a week in which public opinion was very harsh on us, on all the players, especially on the coach.”
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“But it’s always like that, it’s fine because when you think about it, it’s already 23 years I’ve been a professional and whenever things don’t go well it’s, ‘Cristiano, he’s finished, he’s old.’ But well, it was a good response from me and my teammates, which is what we wanted.” Ronaldo, the leading scorer in men’s international history with 145 goals, has been compared unfavourably with the likes of nemesis Lionel Messi and other star forwards such as Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane so far at the World Cup.
Put to him that he had now joined the party in North America, Ronaldo said: “I always arrive, even if it’s later, but I’m there. So, it’s about continuing my work, I truly believe in what I do. My career has always been like this, it wasn’t going to change.” He told Martinez and his teammates, who are on the cusp of the last 32, to ignore the outside criticism. “Because we know that when we don’t play well or don’t win we’re always attacked, especially me,” he said. “But as I said before, I’m already used to it and I carry on.”
– ‘He’s a human being’ – The Spaniard Martinez, who has defiantly stuck with Ronaldo no matter what, said he understood the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star’s reaction at the end of the game. “He’s a human being. I think he’s allowed to have emotions, he’s allowed to have feelings,” he said. Martinez said Ronaldo’s dedication, drive, and hard work was how he had extended his career into middle age. “I’ve never worked with a player that has got that capacity — that whatever happens today, tomorrow is going to be the hungriest player to improve,” he said of Ronaldo, who now plays in Saudi Arabia.
Uzbekistan’s coach Fabio Cannavaro, a former defender who lifted the World Cup for Italy in 2006, called Ronaldo “one of the strongest players in the history of football.” He said: “As a defender, you need to be very smart to be close to him, because if you give one centimetre in the box, you are dead.”
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