It was the sort of friendly that could easily have slipped from memory. Played early in the season against Kazakhstan, on a pitch so shabby the grass had to be painted, the narrow 1-0 win in Chaves in northern Portugal has never really faded away. That is because 20 August 2003 is the day Cristiano Ronaldo’s story with the senior Portugal national team began.
Twenty-three years later, the boy from Madeira is preparing for a record sixth World Cup – joining Lionel Messi and Guillermo Ochoa as the only players to achieve the feat. The all-time leading scorer in international football with 143 goals has reinvented Portuguese football, transforming its mentality like no player before him. “We are a small country that rarely has global impact outside football,” Joao Aroso, who worked with Ronaldo at Sporting and the national team, told BBC Sport. “Cristiano allows our small country to be known worldwide for something great.”
“Cristiano Ronaldo prepares for his sixth World Cup amid growing debate over his role in Portugal's team.”
But for a long time, openly questioning Ronaldo’s place in the team almost felt like treason. Not any more. Antonio Simoes, a member of the Portugal side that finished third at the 1966 World Cup, has been blunt. “He doesn’t play to win, he plays to be the main figure,” Simoes argued. “Do you understand that it’s the opposite of Eusebio? I have nothing against him. I can still see, I can still hear and I can still think. But I can’t run away from the reality of the facts.”
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez has dismissed the debate as “lift talk”. Whenever asked about the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Martinez points to the same statistic: 25 goals in his past 31 games for the Selecao. “We are talking about the greatest player of all time. He is here because he is still performing at a very high level, not because of what he achieved in the past,” Martinez explained.
Ronaldo arrived at each of his previous five World Cups with untouchable status. This summer it won’t be different, even if scrutiny back home has only intensified since Qatar 2022. Having scored at every World Cup he has played – eight goals in total, one short of Eusebio’s Portuguese record – the Al-Nassr man will have another chance to answer his critics on the pitch.