Portugal coach Roberto Martínez wouldn’t say if Cristiano Ronaldo would start Tuesday’s World Cup match against Uzbekistan after the superstar’s forgettable performance in the team’s opener.
“I can’t inform you about the starting 11 because I haven’t informed my players,” Martínez said Monday when asked if Ronaldo would remain in the lineup.
The 41-year-old Ronaldo failed to score in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with Congo.
Television pundits and social media users criticized Ronaldo after he missed on a couple of good scoring chances in the second half. Some wondered why Martínez didn’t substitute him in the second half with the team struggling offensively.
Martínez said criticism does not impact his team and said such talk is part of being in an event of this magnitude.
“We are playing a World Cup so of course we have a lot of noise and tension, but it’s part of the game,” he said. “The focus is on the team and we want to show a positive attitude … to be ready for the match. We are very much focused. We are strong. The team is even more united than before.”
While not specifically referring to Ronaldo, Martínez added that some of the criticism is “unfair, it’s unjust.”
Ronaldo did not speak to reporters after the game but has posted twice social media since the draw. In the first post, he wrote: “It wasn’t the start we wanted, but this is far from over. Head up and focus on the next game.”
On Sunday, he posted four pictures from a team training session and wrote: “Focused on the mission.”
Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi became the only men to play in six World Cups with their participation this year. Ronaldo will try again Tuesday to become the first player to score in six World Cups after falling short in the opener.
He currently shares the record with Messi, who has five goals in Argentina’s two matches this year to give him a record 18 goals across five tournaments. Messi failed to score in 2010.
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Despite Ronaldo’s struggles in the opener, when he had just 25 touches, Martínez remains confident in his ability to help the team finish opportunities in the final third.
“Cristiano is the best one to do that,” he said. “The numbers support this of this iconic player who is Cristiano Ronaldo. If you look at the past 32 games, he is the player that has extra movement opening spaces and finding pockets.”
Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro knows not to underestimate Ronaldo despite the results in Portugal’s first game. While his team is preparing for the team’s many stars, it is Ronaldo that he said his players must pay particular attention to.
“We need to be careful when we are in the box because we cannot leave this kind of player alone,” he said. “We need to be very focused on him because Cristiano can score in every situation, free kicks, even in the corner. So we need to be very careful.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
