At 41, under fire Ronaldo proves his hunger for goals is undiminished

We have been here before. Us, the hapless sports scribes, who marshalled every tenet of footballing logic to argue against his presence. The weary supporters, who no longer found the energy to defend their idol. The opponents, who assumed he had lost his powers of intimidation. And between us — the writers, the supporters and the defenders — him. Cristiano Ronaldo. Whenever the writing on the wall has appeared too glaring to ignore, whenever numbers have suggested his stocks were falling, the inevitability of a Ronaldo riposte has arrived. As it did in Houston on Tuesday, where he led Portugal to a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan.

If not for that inevitability, the post-game discourse could have been strikingly different. The narrative of Ronaldo being counterproductive to Portugal’s title hopes would have gained fresh momentum. And for a fleeting moment, it seemed it would. Ronaldo missed a tap-in from a sublime Nuno Mendes cross in the fourth minute.

Indeed, even the seemingly immortals possess elements of mortality. Even Lionel Messi missed a penalty yesterday. The difference between the ordinary and the genius, however, was showcased in his response. A brace. That, though, was Messi — leading goal-scorer in World Cup history, a reigning world champion and a player who still bends matches to his will.

Could Ronaldo? At 41? After the disastrous performance against DR Congo? Amid a goal drought in major tournaments stretching to 10 games?

The rebuttal had arrived even before questions could be framed. In two minutes. A profounding yes.

Throughout his career, Ronaldo has defied the shackles of irrelevance through reinvention. At his age, he does not necessarily need to do so. Would life not be easier, reclining on a sun lounger in his Riyadh mansion, while collecting €200 million per season and avoiding the relentless scrutiny of a World Cup? Undoubtedly. But when has Ronaldo ever chosen easy?

He reinvented today. For the first goal in the sixth minute, surely. Spotting the overlapping run of Joao Cancelo on the right, Ronaldo darted into the space between centre-back Abdulla Abdullaev and midfielder Odiljon Khamrobekov. The finish possessed a ferocity reminiscent of younger days. Abduvokhid Nematov’s dive was merely decorative.

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And then, for the second goal, which represented a different sort of reinvention — psychological. Pedro Neto earned Portugal a free-kick right at the edge of the box — also known as the Ronaldo territory. One could not imagine anyone else taking it. Yet, upon consulting with Bruno Fernandes, he left it for Nuno Mendes, who had a more favourable angle. 2-0.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (7) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of his team during the World Cup Group K soccer match between Portugal and Uzbekistan in Houston, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Bygone era

The third goal belonged to a bygone era. Ronaldo curved his run around the blind side of Rustam Ashurmatov before applying a precise finish beyond the helpless Nematov.

Then, the SIUU. Reverberated in the Houston Stadium with an intensity that makes it hard to believe that it is the very site where he was booed, mocked, and serenaded with chants of ‘Messi! Messi!’ only five days ago.

Records were broken, too. With the opening goal of the game, Ronaldo became the only player to score in six editions of the men’s FIFA World Cup. With his second, he became Portugal’s leading goal-scorer in this competition, eclipsing Eusebio. At 10, Ronaldo is two shy of Pele, and five of his Brazilian namesake. If not for Nematov, Ronaldo could have had a hat-trick. Portugal, though, did get a fourth via an Nematov own goal. And then a fifth, courtesy of Rafael Leao.

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Are we going overboard? One could argue that it was only Uzbekistan. Ranked 50th — 43 places adrift of Portugal — who had never competed at a stage of magnitude before. Yet, even if the adulation appears excessive given the disparity between the sides, so be it. It has arrived after weeks of relentless criticism. The inevitability of a Ronaldo rebuttal has struck football. Again. It had to. It was always meant to.