Cristiano Ronaldo goes on playing the World Cup after World Cup, but unlike Lionel Messi, nothing changes for him and Portugal. It’s just disappointment. His first World Cup was way back in 2006 in Germany. That time, Portugal reached the semis, and a young Ronaldo raised expectations. And how he has flattered to deceive all these years!
Make no mistake, he has been a fantastic player at the club level. Even at the international level, he has been good. But the problem is that the kind of persona he has created for himself and his fans is not in line with Portugal’s results, especially in the last few years. At 41 years, he is the second-oldest player in the tournament. But his biological age is 28.9 years old because of his extraordinary training and eating regimen!
What’s the point of that biological age when it doesn’t translate to performance on the field of play? On Wednesday night in FIFA World Cup 2026, Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo and Ronaldo disappointed in a big way. After Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland — the other big stars of international football — began their campaign with a bang, Ronaldo, in light of his competitive nature, was expected to surpass them or at least come up with something similar, but that’s not what happened. He looked like a liability.
It was the 10th straight international game in which Ronaldo didn’t score. All through the match, he had just 25 touches, the lowest among all Portugal outfield players who played the full game.
His presence is also hurting the team. If you have a superstar like him in the team, naturally, everyone else would rally around them. Players will try to alter their game as per the need of the superstar. But if the superstar is only a superstar in name, most of the moves will end in disappointment. Like it happened last night. Ronaldo has become so big — bigger than football in his country — that it has affected the smarts of every other player in the team, whether it’s out of awe or out of obligation.
As you sow, so shall you reap!
His performance against DR Congo has brought him a lot of criticism. Former England striker Chris Sutton was shocked that he wasn’t being replaced. He said Roberto Martinez was afraid to replace him. Ronaldo’s former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney really summed it up. He, kind of, said Ronaldo will score only if he gets good chances. Don’t expect more than that.
Since 2023, Ronaldo has been playing for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Not the best league in the world, not even one of the best in the world. If you are not playing with the best, against the best, how else will you keep up? Company matters! Then, to make matters unbearable, the halo around him and his extraordinary lifestyle! If there was one idiom that presently suits Ronaldo, it is “mutton dressed as lamb”. Over the years, it has been used to make fun of older, fashionable women, but thanks to Ronaldo, it could very well be used today to describe men who ain’t willing to throw in the towel despite ageing and not being at their best, and in the process make a fool of themselves.
