Great day for Portuguese Men o’ War

PETALING JAYA: Cristiano Ronaldo left it late, but finally joined the party, the Golden Boot race, and got his country moving.

Just as criticism was reaching a crescendo, CR7 responded with two goals to inspire Portugal to a 5-0 rout of Uzbekistan.

And his compatriot Carlos Queiroz, 73, produced a defensive masterclass to defy England.

Here are seven things from both the matches.

1. Ronaldo roars back to make history

CR7 is back! Just when it seemed safe to write him off, Ronaldo made history to become the first player to score in six World Cup finals.

His two goals against Uzbekistan were the perfect riposte to his critics and to Lionel Messi, whose brace the day before saw the Argentine lead the Golden Boot Race with five goals.

They also ended a personal tournament goal drought of 10 matches that was weighing heavily on the 41-year-old.

“It was a difficult, dark week; it felt like I’d already retired from football,” he said after the 5-0 win.

“But I held on as I always do because I believe more in hard work than in football. God helps those who work hard.”

2. … and puts his country back in business

It had been a frustrating time for the Portugal skipper, who had watched as his big-name rivals helped themselves to a hatful of goals as he laboured to justify his place in the team.

With Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, on four apiece, and Vinicius Junior and Harry Kane on two, Ronaldo was conspicuously absent from the party.

But an early brace ended the discussion, much to his and his country’s relief. He helped reignite Portugal’s hopes of putting a new name on the trophy after an unimpressive opening draw. “It was difficult, I have to admit, but we’re back,” he said.

It was a performance that confirmed that reports of his demise were exaggerated.

Acting as the decoy for Nuno Mendes’ free-kick goal, he almost scored after another well-worked set-piece by Bruno Fernandes and was still hunting for a hat-trick in added time.

3. … but he still shouldn’t be playing!

It may seem churlish to mention it, but Ronaldo owes his presence to a blatant piece of Fifa rule-bending. Under Fifa’s disciplinary code for violent conduct, Ronaldo should have received a three-match ban for elbowing Dara O’Shea during Portugal’s 2-0 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland in 2025.

But, in an extraordinary example of giving special players special treatment, Fifa gave the player a one-match ban and suspended the other two!

The disciplinary committee said it took into account that he had not received a red card in his other 225 international appearances. He served one match in the final qualifier against Armenia. The other two will only be activated if he “commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period”.

There seems little chance of Fifa doing that and removing one of its biggest box office stars. And depending on results, there’s even a possibility of him facing England next. The last time was the controversial incident in the quarter-final of the 2006 World Cup when he won a penalty at the expense of Wayne Rooney. He really does go back a long way.

4. Same old boring England

So the Croatia game was a blip. Thomas Tuchel’s brave, new, attacking England looked more like Gareth Southgate’s stumbling old side as they failed to break down a determined Ghanaian defence.

Sixty-fifth in the world and the lowest-ranked of 10 African nations in the tournament, the Black Stars defied the team that had hammered the Croats 4-2 in an impressive opening game. But for those who thought that might be the start of a new exciting era, it was a dire disappointment.

From the kick off when Ghana sat back and England passed the ball sideways, you sensed they hadn’t much idea how to break through the disciplined ranks lined up against them. Early on, England had 88% possession, but didn’t know what to do with it. There was no creativity, no spark, nothing new. No one will be fearing the Three Lions on this showing: they were no more than harmless pussy cats.

5. Hydration highlight

The first half hydration break, called when drizzle was falling, was greeted by the loudest booing yet at the tournament. But the fans were being a bit premature: what followed was even more frustrating. The fumbling attempts to penetrate Ghana’s defensive lines were painful to watch. They couldn’t even get Jude Bellingham onto the ball. Nor Harry Kane.

The only tactic seemed to be set-pieces from the boot of Declan Rice, but he lost his laser-like Arsenal accuracy and then got himself booked. Elliot Anderson did nothing to convince Manchester City they should pay £100plus million for him on this showing. All he could manage were short passes that were never going to trouble the Africans.

No wonder Bellingham and Anderson were the first to be withdrawn. England will get through to the next round, but on this evidence, that may be as far as they go.

6. Queiroz completes day for Portuguese old men ‘o’ war

It was a good day for Portuguese old men’ o’ war. Not just 41-year-old Ronaldo, but 73-year-old Carlos Queiroz. The Ghana boss had already become the oldest manager to win a World Cup match by beating Panama in his opening game.

That meant he passed the previous record held by Germany’s Otto Rehhagel, who was a stripling of 71 years and 317 days old when he guided Greece to a victory in the 2010 tournament.

Queiroz did it at 73 years and 108 days old. And with a masterplan to snuff out England’s much-vaunted attacking talent, he showed it was no fluke. Well-known to Manchester United fans for his defensive strategy that led to the Champions League triumph in 2008, Queiroz is as well-respected as he is well-travelled.

He only took the Ghana job two months ago, but has instilled a discipline and rigour that is maintaining Africa’s improvement at this World Cup. He’s also managed Portugal, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt, Qatar and Oman.

Call it parking a double-decker bus, call it rope-a-dope, call it what you will, but his methods are mightily effective.

7. Double pain for frustrated England fans

Games like this make you feel for the fans who have been fleeced by Fifa’s outrageous ticket prices. We know prices have fallen with the so-called dynamic pricing system, but still there are too many tales of ordinary-income-earning fans blowing their savings on the price of tickets.

In football, you can get games like this, especially in the World Cup. There is so much at stake and such a supposed discrepancy between teams that one of them can set up as spoilers.

Don’t blame Queiroz – it was Ghana’s best chance and it came off. But blame Fifa. How are those frustrated England fans feeling now? Looking at the scoresheet is bad enough but when they get home and look at their balance sheet…