Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Portugal opened their World Cup campaign with a disappointing draw against an African nation in Houston.
- The Portuguese attack struggled to create chances, managing only one shot on target all match.
- The team's star player faces mounting criticism for his lack of influence and touches the ball fewer times than the opposing goalkeeper.
Argentina, France and even the United States have all commenced their World Cup campaigns with statement victories, but Portugal emphatically did not add their name to this list. In Wednesday's early kickoff, Roberto Martínez's team were held to a rather ignominious 1-1 draw by DR Congo at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The reigning UEFA Nations League winners appeared set to cruise to victory in the Lone Star State when, just six minutes in, João Neves ghosted into the area to head home the opening goal of the afternoon. From then on however, nothing went right. Yoane Wissa equalized in first-half stoppage time for the Leopards, scoring DR Congo's first-ever World Cup goal (52 years on from their only previous appearance at the tournament, when they were still known as Zaire).
Thus, Portugal had the entire second half to respond ... except, well, they very much failed to do so. They ended the afternoon with only seven shots, their lowest tally in any World Cup match since Opta records began in 1966. Of these, just one was on target, which was Neves' very early opener.
As is to be expected, the spotlight will shine on Cristiano Ronaldo, with many blaming him for this result. So, was the 41 year old, who became the oldest outfielder to ever start a World Cup match, really that bad? Well, let's take a look at his numbers.
Cristiano Ronaldo's statistics vs DR Congo
Statistics | Cristiano Ronaldo | Match rank |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 3 | 1st |
Shots off target | 3 | 1st |
Expected goals | 0.46 | 1st |
Accurate passes | 19 | 14th |
Key passes | Zero | 13th |
Duels contested | 3 | 22nd |
Ground duels contested | Zero | 27th |
Touches | 25 | 21st |
Note: All statistics courtesy of SofaScore.
Ronaldo's statistics make for pretty grim reading. He had three shots, all from inside the DR Congo penalty area, but failed to hit the target with any of them. Meanwhile, he completed just 19 passes and touched the ball a miserly 25 times — 10 touches fewer than DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi Nzau. According to WhoScored, not a single player of any nation to have completed 90 minutes at this World Cup has touched the ball less than that.
These are pretty damning numbers. If Ronaldo isn't scoring, he is simply a passenger, with this ultra-talented squad forced to carry a 41-year-old bystander who refuses to face reality. Yes, he has scored 143 international goals, a world record for any man, but that is now just one goal across his last 12 appearances at World Cups and Euros for Ronaldo (and that one was a converted penalty against Ghana).
After he underwhelmed during the group stages in Qatar four years ago, Fernando Santos dropped his captain for the round of 16 clash with Switzerland, in which replacement Gonçalo Ramos famously scored a hat trick at Lusail Stadium. On Wednesday in Houston, Ramos was thrown on in the 83rd minute by Martínez, too little too late, and the manager simply does not have the compunction to address this obvious issue.
Next up, Portugal will face Uzbekistan on Tuesday, before an eagerly anticipated clash with Colombia in Miami the following Saturday night. In the former, Ronaldo may snatch a goal against the World Cup debutants. But when they face top-class opposition — as Colombia are, and as they will surely come across in the knockout phase — something has to change for Portugal, even if we all know it won't.
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