Ronaldo under fire.. The Portuguese media criticizes the “splendid performance.”

On Thursday, Portuguese newspapers launched an attack on national team captain Cristiano Ronaldo, following a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the opening of Portugal’s campaign in the 2026 World Cup, currently being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A Bola newspaper said that coach Roberto Martinez insisted on keeping Ronaldo (41 years old) throughout the 90 minutes, noting that the national team captain wasted two chances to score in a strange way.

For its part, O Jogo newspaper described the beginning as “disappointing,” considering that the performance of Ronaldo and most of the Portuguese national team players was lackluster and did not live up to expectations.

As for the newspaper Correio da Manhã, it chose a sarcastic method in criticizing the national team, as a picture of Ronaldo appeared on its cover under the headline: “Houston…we have several problems,” in reference to the offensive crisis that the national team displayed in the match.

In turn, the newspaper Jornal de Notícias saw that a limited number of players, such as Joao Neves, Pedro Neto and Joao Cancelo, were the exception in performance, stressing that Ronaldo was part of the modest level that the Portuguese team showed at the beginning of its World Cup campaign.