Where Lionel Messi treads, Cristiano Ronaldo invariably follows and the veteran Portugal striker belatedly joined the World Cup party this afternoon with a clinical brace to help his side to a 5-0 battering of Uzbekistan.
He also had to endure watching rival Messi rifle in five goals in two games for Argentina and fellow global superstars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland score four times for France and Norway respectively.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez stuck with his main man and watched on as the former Manchester United and Real Madrid goal machine struck twice in the first half to make history as the first player to score at six World Cup finals. His second goal also saw him overtake the legendary Eusebio as Portugal’s leading scorer at the World Cup.
Nuno Mendes was also on target with Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abdouvakhid Nematov credited with an own goal before Rafa Leao came off the bench to add a superb fifth late on.
Ronaldo strike sets Portugal their way
The opening goal after six minutes was classic Ronaldo. Joao Cancelo did the leg work with a run down the right before sending in a low cross. Ronaldo moved effortlessly to the front post, past his marker, and met the ball on the half-volley, sending it flying into the bottom corner.
The relief was palpable around the stadium in Houston.
Mendes then hammered in a second 11 minutes later from a free-kick on the edge of the area. With the majority of the crowd expecting Ronaldo to take it, the PSG left-back surprised everyone, including Uzbekistan goalkeeper Nematov, by firing left-footed into the net.
Uzbekistan looked shellshocked but, to their credit, they finally started to create the odd opportunity gong forward. And they thought they had halved the deficit just before the half-hour mark when Aziz G’aniev lashed a stunning effort into the top left-hand corner from 25 yards.
The Uzbekistan celebrations were cut short, however, when the VAR spotted a foul by Abbosbek Fayzullaev on Cancelo and the effort was chalked off.
Portugal made the most of their good fortune by adding a third before the break.
Bruno Fernandes surged through midfield and picked out Ronaldo with a superbly timed pass and the Al-Nassr man sat did the rest, slotting home with his right foot.
Ronaldo frustrated in pursuit of hat-trick
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner almost completed his hat-trick deep into first-half stoppage time but his scooped effort over Nematov was cleared off the line by Manchester City centre-half Abdukodir Khusanov.
Joao Felix hammered in a warning shot at the start of the second period, although Fabio Cannavaro’s Uzbekistan refused to buckle and had a couple of half chances of their own, Fayzullaev and Otabek Shukuruv both firing in efforts on goal.
Ronaldo had seen little of the ball in the opening 12 minutes of the second half but he almost played a key role in Portugal’s fourth with a brilliantly inventive free-kick. Again, he aped to take it but then moved aside and wandered forward. Fernandes picked out his gentle run superbly and only a brave stop from Nematov kept out Ronaldo’s effort.
Nematov turned from hero to villain from the resulting corner, though. Uzbekistan failed to clear a low centre from their left and in the melee, Khusanov chested the ball on to his goalkeeper who got the final touch as it drifted over the line.
Ronaldo was doing his utmost to register a hat-trick but, having pressured Nematov, saw his half-volley well-saved by the overworked Uzbekistan goalkeeper.
Leao had more luck with three minutes to go. Although the Uzbekistan defence managed to partially clear Nelson Semedo’s right-wing cross, the ball fell nicely for Leao and the Milan winger casually slotted it into the top corner.
