Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez has slammed critics who called for him to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in their opening game at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Portugal drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo with Joao Neves scoring the game’s first and Yoane Wissa scoring the equaliser late in the game.
Ronaldo played out the entire duration of the game but was largely ineffective leading to many to call for his omission from the starting lineup in subsequent games.
Al-Nassr striker Ronaldo, carried the ball over a distance of 49.4 metres in 90 minutes, lost possession three times and registered three shots with none on target.
“It made no sense at all to take off Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the best goal scorer in history, off the field when we were looking for goals.”
“We gave Congo the opportunity to reorganise their defensive structure and set up their counterattacks, and we lost a lot of depth.”
“That helped Congo. We stopped taking risks, we stopped looking for space, we stopped reaching the final third. Now we evaluate it and improve for the second match” Roberto Martinez said.
