HOUSTON — Cristiano Ronaldo had a message for his doubters on Tuesday: he’s back. The Portuguese superstar made World Cup history by becoming the first player in the tournament’s history to score in six different World Cups, tallying two goals as Portugal dominated Uzbekistan 5-0 in a Group K contest played in Houston.
After the final whistle, an emotional Ronaldo sprinted toward the television cameras and shouted “I’m back, I’m back” — a raw reaction from the 41-year-old who had faced mounting criticism over a goal-scoring dry spell stretching 10 matches in major tournament play.
Given room to operate inside the penalty area, Ronaldo made Uzbekistan pay dearly. His first goal came in just the sixth minute, a clean finish from six yards out at the near post after converting a low cross from Joao Cancelo. He later slotted Bruno Fernandes’ perfectly weighted pass into the far corner for his second. The brace pushed his career World Cup goal total to 10, surpassing Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time top scorer at the global finals.
After each goal, Ronaldo was swarmed by his teammates along the sideline while coach Roberto Martinez watched on with a satisfied smile.
Sandwiched between Ronaldo’s two strikes was a brilliant free kick from Nuno Mendes, who caught Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov — and the entire crowd — off guard while Ronaldo served as a decoy on the set piece.
Uzbekistan had a moment of hope when Azizjon Ganiev unleashed an impressive shot that appeared to cut into the deficit, but a VAR review determined a foul had been committed on Cancelo, and the goal was wiped off the board.
In the second half, Nematov suffered an unfortunate own goal after fumbling the ball into his own net, and Rafael Leao capped the scoring with a late fifth goal in front of a capacity crowd of 68,777 fans.
The result came after Portugal’s opening match ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tuesday’s performance appeared to reflect a team determined to make up for that disappointment, pressing aggressively from the opening whistle and generating chances throughout.
Portugal, now sitting on four points through two Group K matches, will close out the group stage against Colombia. Uzbekistan, still without a point and on the edge of elimination, will face DR Congo in their final group game.
