Cristiano Ronaldo, control’s favorite child, responds with grace and straightness
“I’m back. I’m back.”
Cristiano Ronaldo shouted these words with a smile to the TV camera after Portugal’s 5-0 demolition of Uzbekistan in Houston. I found the statement almost unnecessary.
For anyone who has followed his career over the past two decades, there was something profoundly familiar about what was unfolding. The criticism came after Portugal’s frustrating 1-1 draw against DR Congo. Questions have been asked about his age, his place in the side and whether Roberto Martinez is clinging to football’s most famous seven for sentimental rather than footballing reasons.
Four days later, Ronaldo scored two goals, another World Cup recordand another reminder that public doubt remains one of the most reliable sources of motivation in professional sports.
At this point, it’s less a pattern and more a law of nature. Cristiano Ronaldo Football Questions. Cristiano Ronaldo answers.
Carlo Ancelotti perhaps explained this phenomenon better than anyone when he once remarked that “the only thing more dangerous than Cristiano Ronaldo is a Cristiano Ronaldo who didn’t score in the previous game.”
It sounds like a joke. It’s also one of the most accurate reports ever released on the Portuguese striker.
Detail of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal against Uzbekistan. He maps the play, hides his intention, attacks the back of the defender from the opposite side and facilitates the pass to Bruno Fernandes. Nice goal.
pic.twitter.com/NfO2AIEqi3— Henrique Mathias – OJogoDireto (@ojogodireto) June 24, 2026
After all, he is a footballer who has scored over 975 professional goals, 147 international goals and somehow managed to stay relevant at six different World Cups. Generations of defenders have arrived, peaked and gone, while Ronaldo has continued to find ways to stay in the conversation.
This conversation, as usual, was especially loud after the draw against DR Congo.
Ronaldo managed just 25 touches, failed to register a shot on target and extended a drought at major tournaments that has quickly become a topic of discussion. Thierry Henry broke down his move. Chris Sutton has questioned whether Portugal are limiting themselves by continuing to build around him. Social networks brought familiar verdicts.
Done. Selfish. Too old.
The remarkable thing about Ronaldo is that he’s heard all those words before, often just before producing one of those nights that reminds people why he’s still here.
THE GOAL THAT HENRY ASKED FOR
The irony of Ronaldo’s opening goal against Uzbekistan could not be ignored.
After DR Congo drew, Thierry Henry spent several minutes breaking up the Portuguese attack in the second half. Francisco Conceicao pitted. Bruno Fernandes has been put in a promising position. According to Henry, Ronaldo made the wrong move.
“The team needs to score, not you,” Henry said.
The criticism wasn’t really about selfishness. It was about function. Henry’s argument was that Ronaldo’s job at the time was to create space instead of occupying it, he pulled the defender away rather than arriving in the same area as his teammate.
Six minutes into the Uzbekistan game, Joao Cancelo drilled a low cross into the penalty area and Ronaldo produced exactly the type of move that Henry defended. The run was sharp, the timing perfect and the aim instinctive.
Football doesn’t often provide such elegant callbacks.
This one arrived less than a week later.
The goal settled Portugal, settled Ronaldo and set the tone for what followed. Nuno Mendes doubled the lead with a clever free-kick before Bruno Fernandes found Ronaldo with a beautifully balanced pass for his second of the night.
Portugal scored five by the final whistleRonaldo had two and the forward could easily end up with a hat trick.
There were more chances. Fernandes searched for him repeatedly. Bernardo Silva joined the search when he joined. Portugal’s players seemed determined to help their captain complete the set.
They didn’t quite make it.
However, the brace was enough to make history.
Ronaldo became the first footballer ever to score in six different World Cups, surpassing Eusebio as Portugal’s top scorer in the competition. At 41, he also became the oldest player to score twice in a World Cup match.
Not bad for a player who apparently quit four days early.
MESSI’S TOURNAMENT, RONALDO’S REMEMBER
This World Cup has belonged to Lionel Messi so far.
There is no shame in saying so.
Five goals in two games. A hat-trick against Algeria. Defense against Austria. All-time World Cup scoring record. Argentina has already advanced to the knockout stages.
Messi was sensational and probably the best player in the tournament at the moment.
The temptation, as always, is to turn everything about Ronaldo into a competition with Messi.
It is not necessary.
The reality is that one of football’s greatest privileges has been to watch both men continue to produce moments long after logic suggested they should stop. Messi has started this World Cup at a level that very few players in history have achieved.
Ronaldo’s story was different.
His tournament began with criticism, frustration and questions about whether he still belonged at this level. The answer, at least for one night in Houston, came emphatically.
This is not to say that the criticism is entirely unfair.
Ronaldo is not the player he was at 35. He’s definitely not the player he was at 25. There are things he can’t do anymore. Relentless pressing, endless runs into the channels and the ability to dominate every phase of the game for 90 minutes are naturally more difficult at 41.
There may come a point later in this World Cup when Roberto Martinez decides Portugal need something different against elite opposition. There may even be matches where Ronaldo is no longer the answer.
But that was never really the point. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a brace as Portugal beat Uzbekistan (Photo Reuters)
The thing is, doubting Cristiano Ronaldo remains a dangerous habit.
Because what still separates him from almost everyone else isn’t just his ability to score goals. It is his refusal to accept the version of himself that other people create.
“I can say that it was a very difficult week, a difficult week, a week in which public opinion was very hard on us, on all the players, especially on the coach,” admitted Ronaldo after the match.
“But it’s always like that because if you think about it, I’ve been a professional for 23 years and whenever something goes wrong it’s ‘Cristiano, he’s done, he’s old’.”
His reply was not delivered through the argument.
It came through goals.
“It was a good response from me and my teammates, which is what we wanted,” he said.
Later, when asked about his now-viral “I’m back” message, Ronaldo smiled and offered another insight into the mentality that has guided him for more than two decades at the top.
“I always come, even if it’s later, but I’m there. My career has always been like that, it hasn’t changed.”
Perhaps this is the best way to understand Cristiano Ronaldo in 2026.
Cristiano Ronaldo:
“It’s been a tough week with criticism, public opinion has been tough on my teammates and me. It’s been 23 years like this. Nothing happens. When things are going well, Cristiano is good, when things are going bad, Cristiano is retired and old.”
Video @OndaCero_es pic.twitter.com/mEIbxtMyS0— Alberto Fernndez (@afernan9) June 23, 2026
He might not end up as the World Cup’s top scorer. Maybe Messi will take the throne once again, or maybe younger strikers like Kylian Mbappe, Haaland will eventually produce bigger numbers. So far they have.
Perhaps Portugal’s journey will end sooner than many expect.
But there’s something endlessly compelling about watching a man who refuses to stop fighting.
The records are extraordinary. Longevity borders on the absurd. And yet the quality that defines Ronaldo above all else is his appetite for battle.
Whenever football decides the story is over, he seems to take it personally.
And as long as it stays that way, the popular kid will continue to find ways to respond.
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– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
Jun 24, 2026 07:23 IST