LOS ANGELES.- Cristiano Ronaldo did not go from a draw to a goal in the World Cup debut of Portugalin a match in which the Portuguese star did not shine or score, quite the opposite of his alter ego, the Argentine Lionel Mession Tuesday in Kansas City.
Ronaldo equaled Messi’s feat of playing in six World Cupsbut he remained, for now, without scoring, which would have meant a historic feat that the Argentine will not be able to have: scoring at least one goal in six World Cups. The Albiceleste captain scored zero in South Africa 2010.
CR7, accustomed throughout his career to running after individual records, will still have the opportunity to leave his mark on the history of the tournament in, at least, the two remaining matches that Portugal has left in Group K of the World Cup, against Uzbekistan and Colombia.
No record
At 41 years old and just as his coach had announced, the Spanish Roberto MartinezRonaldo was the spearhead of the Seleçao, but he went completely unnoticed, as the statistics show: he barely touched 25 balls (the least of all the starters) and did not commit or receive any fouls.
Just three shots, none between the sticks, was all the contribution of a Ronaldo who at times seemed dazed.
Joao Neves scored the only Portuguese goal in the 6th minute of the match, while DR Congo’s equalizer came through Yoane Wissa (40+5′).
Ronaldo’s disappointment in Houston contrasts with the day of absolute happiness that Messi experienced on Tuesday in Kansas City.
Accustomed to fighting for two decades to be the best, the first round fell on the Argentine’s side.
If June 16, 2006 went down in history as the day on which a teenage Messi scored his first goal in a World Cup (6-0 against Serbia and Montenegro in Gelsernkirchen), exactly 20 years later, at almost 39 years old, bearded and captain of the Albiceleste, he scored a hat trick in the victory against Algeriaequaling the German’s record of top scorer in the World Cup Miroslav Klose (16).
“Magical”, “Historical”, “Eternal”: media from around the world exhausted the adjectives after his hat-trick against Algeria at the start of the defense of the title achieved in Qatar 2022on the day he became the first footballer in history to play in six World Cups.
The Argentine coach, Lionel Scalonideclared after the game that, one week after turning 39, Messi will be the best “until he wants.”
“It’s exciting to see it, not only for Argentines but for everyone who likes football,” added the coach.
The best “until he wants”
With Messi at the level shown against Algeria, Argentina dreams of becoming the first team to retain the crown since the Brazil of “O’Rei” Pele in 1962.
The dazzling performance of the albiceleste number 10 has for the moment overshadowed the other stars who have already debuted in the tournament, despite the fact that Kilian Mbappé and Erling Haaland will score a double on Tuesday in the debuts of France and Norway in view of Senegal and Iraqrespectively.
This Wednesday he went into action Harry Kaneleading England against the Croatia of the fireproof Luka Modric.
And the young man called to take over from them all, Lamine Yamalrecently recovered from a muscle injury, barely played 25 minutes in the disappointing goalless debut of Spaincurrent champion of Europebefore the debutante Cape Verde.
