Thierry Henry kindly explains what’s going wrong for Cristiano Ronaldo after his tough game with Portugal.
Portugal’s World Cup journey didn’t start as they hoped, with a 1-1 draw against DR Congo. Cristiano Ronaldo, their star player, looked frustrated several times as he couldn’t score. Ronaldo, who plays for Al-Nassr, is trying to score in his sixth World Cup. He first scored back in 2006 in Germany when he was just 21.
At times, Ronaldo seemed eager to get that goal, which would also make him the second oldest player to score in the World Cup, just behind Roger Milla. The 41-year-old has scored an impressive 973 goals in his career for both club and country, with 143 of those coming for Portugal.
Even though Ronaldo’s record is amazing, most of his goals came when he wasn’t playing as a striker but from a wider position. This is why Thierry Henry thinks Portugal had a tough time in their first match against DR Congo. Speaking on FOX, Henry explained the issue clearly.
He said, “The team needs to score, not just you needing to score. Look here—Ronaldo has seen this situation many times. If he runs into the six-yard box, the defender has to choose what to do, and it could have been an easy goal for Bruno Fernandes. But because Ronaldo wanted to score himself, he moved into Bruno’s path. That made it easier to defend and missed the chance for a team goal. You saw how Bruno reacted.”
Portugal’s coach, Roberto Martinez, and his team still believe they can finish first in their group. They still have games left against Uzbekistan and Colombia. But it’s not clear if Ronaldo will start these next games. Martinez might try a new tactic by putting in Goncalo Ramos, a pure striker, to boost the team’s attack.