He blew out his cheeks when first approaching the dressing room and it was the same gesture when he reached the top of the tunnel and stepped out, aching for a final contribution to football history.‘He is anxious as he is representing Portugal in the national team,’ Bruno Fernandes had said of Cristiano Ronaldo, the night before. And that was before Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick. Messi featured in high-spec adverts for the tournament’s official beer on the stadium concourse screens. Ronaldo featured in adverts for plastic models of himself.But while the 38-year-old Argentinian was the talk of America, coast to coast, yesterday, the 41-year-old Portuguese’s legitimacy is in question after a performance for the ages by Congo who had never before scored a World Cup goal. His tally: 25 touches, three shots, none on target.There was no doubting the expectation. For all the debate about his selection which has raged Lisbon to Porto, a hell of a lot of fans were wearing the name ‘Ronaldo’ on their No 7 replica shirts and the noise ratcheted up each time he touched the ball in the early stages.A generous interpretation of what unfolded would highlight the way he worried defenders in the first half, moving into offside positions, drawing anxious Congolese deeper with him and creating space in front of goal.But his biggest contributions were symbolic – remonstrating with the Qatari referee who booked Bernado Silva. When substitute Francisco Conceicao slipped a pass to him in the right side of the penalty box as the second half wore on, he could only screw it wide. Conceicao located him again. Ronaldo missed again. Cristiano Ronaldo endured a frustrating outing as Portugal were held by DR Congo
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The sound of a ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ chant were audible in that enormous moment and the man in question, looking to the heavens for some inspiration – a kind of internal agony written across his face – seemed to hear and acknowledge it. But the painful and inconvenient reality was that the world’s fifth ranked side needed him substituted and someone to inject the pace and physicality which was missing.There was no such change. In every way, he seemed immovable. When Goncalo Ramos, the PSG striker, was introduced, seven minutes from time, it was his club teammate Vitinha, not Ronaldo, who made way. The decision seemed to defy all rationale.Manager Roberto Martinez last night implied that the supply for Ronaldo had been inadequate and defended the decision not to remove him. ‘We were finding it difficult because they had a back six,’ he said. ‘And in a situation like that, you can use his qualities. It makes no sense to get a player like Cristiano out of game where you need goals. The straight line is not the quickest way. The way he attracts defenders and uses space is valuable. When you need goals, you need a player like Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch.’Portugal’s attacking woes exposed There was not enough pace behind that lumpen front line, as Portugal seemed to lose their intensity having gone ahead, through a Joao Neves header – something Martinez put down to ‘emotion.’ Congo were the ones with all the energy. Quicker, better ball carriers and the ones with the legs when they got the chance, even though Portugal had dominated possession. Wissa the danger despite Newcastle troubles Yoane Wissa, who scored just once for Newcastle United last season, was the attacking fulcrum. Cédric Bakambu, the 35-year-old Real Betis forward brought a wonderful touch, slaloming through the static Portuguese in the first half and shooting, when he might have laid off for Wissa, who was calling.Congo’s equaliser was scandalous from a Portuguese perspective; Tomás Araújo standing and staring as Arthur Masuaku, who Sunderland have loaned out to Lens, crossed for Wissa to leap and score. The slackness, equally evident when Bakambu muscled Fernandes off the ball in Portugal’s box and struck the post, was cast into contrast by the African nation’s own defensive work. Chancel Mbemba is another name they will be chanting on the streets of Brazzaville today. Yoane Wissa struggled for Newcastle but scored for his country as they earned a valuable point Joao Neves had given Portugal the lead but they struggled to create other clear-cut chancesBefore Portugal’s last corner was swung in, Ronaldo made a coded gesture, requesting the ball which sailed over his head. At the end of it all, he trudged towards the tunnel, leaving his teammates behind him, until he seemed to remember there were others and checked himself. But when the team approached their fans, there was no sign of him. He had left the stage.Martinez put this down to workload. ‘There’s a lot of work with interviews,’ he said. ‘The players aren’t sure if they need to stay or go to the locker room.’Can YOU master Craig Hope’s World Cup quiz? Test your knowledge HERE.