It was the sort of friendly that could easily have slipped from memory: a narrow 1-0 win in Chaves, northern Portugal, against Kazakhstan, who had only recently joined Uefa. The pitch was so shabby the grass had to be painted. A sold-out crowd of just 8,000 watched. Yet 20 August 2003 has never faded, because that is the day Cristiano Ronaldo's story with the senior Portugal national team began.
Now 41, Ronaldo is preparing for his sixth World Cup – a record shared with Argentina's Lionel Messi and Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa. He is the all-time leading scorer in international football with 143 goals, and has reinvented Portuguese football, transforming its mentality like no player before him. "We are a small country that rarely has global impact outside football," said Joao Aroso, who worked with Ronaldo at Sporting and the national team. "Cristiano allows our small country to be known worldwide for something great – because of all the positive things he stands for."
“Cristiano Ronaldo's role for Portugal faces unprecedented scrutiny as he prepares for a record sixth World Cup.”
But for the first time, his place in the team is being openly questioned. "He doesn't play to win, he plays to be the main figure," argued Antonio Simoes, a member of the Portugal side that finished third at the 1966 World Cup. "Do you understand that it's the opposite of Eusebio? Let's call things by their name. 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 around Ronaldo as "lift talk". Whenever asked about the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Martinez points to the same statistic: 25 goals in Ronaldo's 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.
Having scored at each of his five World Cups, Ronaldo has another chance to answer critics on the pitch. He has eight World Cup goals to his name, one short of Eusebio's Portuguese record. The scrutiny back home around his role has intensified since Qatar 2022. For a long time, openly questioning Ronaldo's place almost felt like treason. Not any more.