Ronaldo shows there is still life in the old alpha

CRISTIANO Ronaldo - the wane but never doubt his timing. In a week that has seen him pilloried, mocked and painted as a deadweight burden on his team-mates, he gave a reminder this World Cup will not be the sole preserve of other men. 

He did so in the only way he knows how these days he scored a couple of goals, good ones at that, and celebrated as if a routing of Uzbekistan was the Everest of a great sporting life.

 ‘I’m back,’ he shouted into one camera as he left the field, and then, for the avoidance of any doubt, he shouted it again. 

We might choose to giggle a little, but these tournaments are always enriched when the greats deliver and, to that end, what fabulous theatre it was to see Ronaldo remind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland there is still life in the old alpha. 

Had a couple of other finishes gone his way, he would have had a hat-trick, but after the inquisi- tions that followed Portugal’s draw against DR Congo, two was plenty. 

Two was lift-off. Perhaps Roberto Martinez will therefore be the happiest man of all, because he is clearly terrified of dropping Ronaldo and some of the sting can leave those questions, if only for a while. At the risk of souring the party, it is necessary to mention the quiet part out loud. Uzbekistan have only one player from Europe’s five best leagues Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov so there is room for perspective around this act of demolition last night. 

But let’s not minimise the Portuguese improvement, which was clear. Their gilded ensemble was far sharper than we saw in their opening game and so too was their figurehead. 

That was clearest in Ronaldo’s first goal, not just for the crispness of his half-volley, but the subtle step between defenders to meet Joao Cancelo’s ball at the near post. His ability in front of goal has never been doubted, of course, nor has his nose for a chance. 

Ronaldo was mobbed after that strike by near enough the entire Portuguese team and bench. If it felt a touch perform- ative, it could be forgiven. It was his first tournament goal in 11 matches and those debates around Martinez’s deference to the past have been frenzied. Not that they will go away. And nor should they, because Portugal can win this tournament with the right configuration, which is why the Ronaldo conversation is so important. 

Against Uzbekistan, there was nothing about the opposition that required excessive movement or pressing. 

As such, Ronaldo was able to showcase his strengths around the box while deferring the examination into whether too much is sacrificed from the team to accommodate one man. Clearly, the talent in this Portuguese squad is boundless. Bruno Fernandes did a better job of recreating his Manchester United form, Joao Neves and Vitinha performed delicate surgery with their passing and Nuno Mendes was a menace in his charges from left back. 

The latter’s contribution included the creation of an early chance miscued by Ronaldo and the burying of a free-kick for 2-0. On that one, Ronaldo’s reputa- tion worked to his team-mate’s advantage the Uzbekistan wall was so preoccupied by the reasonable assumption of Ronaldo striking with his right foot that they left an open lane for Mendes to thread with his left. 

It was a decent hit but a better goalkeeper would have saved it. Returning to the theme of Fernandes, so maligned on social media for apparently bypassing Ronaldo in the first game, his ball for the striker’s second goal was exceptional. Perfectly weighted, it found the space behind and met Ronaldo’s stride. Fernandes’s impact would only continue from there with one flicked free-kick over the wall, he created a chance for Ronaldo to complete his hat-trick, only for goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov to clatter him, and it was his low corner that created the carnage of the fourth, a Nematov own goal. Rafael Leao took the fifth well, but he was never escaping the shadow already cast by the guy whose name appeared on almost every shirt in the ground.