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June 24, Houston. Portugal dismantled Uzbekistan 5 0. When the TV broadcast camera panned to Ronaldo celebrating the second goal, his mouth movements were crystal clear:
On June 24, Houston. Portugal dismantled Uzbekistan 5-0. As the TV broadcast panned to Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating his second goal, his mouth formed the words clearly:
"He's back. I'm back."
Portugal's Record newspaper hired a lip-reader to extract these words from the noisy stadium atmosphere. The same paper also deciphered what he said to Nuno Mendes before the free-kick: "I'll fake the shot, you just smash it hard." Mendes later blasted it in.
This 41-year-old man directs matches with his mouth and performs CPR on the nation's morale via Instagram.
He started this game in Palm Beach. The whole team took a group photo, and he immediately posted it on Instagram. After the 2-1 win over Nigeria, a leaving-team photo with a caption had already set the tone for the tournament proper.
A week earlier, the script was completely different. On June 17, also in Houston, Portugal were held 1-1 by DR Congo. João Neves opened the scoring, but Yoane Wissa equalized with a header. ESPN directly called it "one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history." DR Congo earned their first-ever World Cup point, while Portugal were left on the edge of a cliff.
Ronaldo posted on Instagram that night: "This is far from over. Heads up, focus on the next game."
Despite his words, the outside world wouldn't let him off. Within a week, retirement rumors, calls for him to be replaced, and analysis articles claiming he was "holding the team back" flooded in. In a post-match press conference, he confessed: "It was a tough, dark week. It felt like I had already retired, but I persevered like always because I believe more in hard work."
Then came that 5-0.
Ronaldo scored in the 6th and 39th minutes, making him the oldest player to score two or more goals in a single World Cup match at 41 years and 138 days. The previous record holder was Lionel Messi, at 38 years and 363 days, set earlier this tournament against Austria. Before him, Roger Milla in 1990 at 38 years and 34 days. Ronaldo pushed this record line out by over three years.
It was also his 10th goal at the World Cup, spanning six tournaments, a first in history. The record of 9 goals for a Portuguese player at the World Cup, set by Eusébio in 1966 and held for nearly 60 years, was now shattered by his hands.
The match itself was a demolition. Possession 66% to 34%, shots 17 to 7, shots on target 9 to 2, expected goals 2.41 to 0.25. Beyond Ronaldo's two goals, Nuno Mendes scored a long-range effort in the 17th minute, Uzbekistan's Nematov put in an own goal in the 60th minute, and Rafael Leão added the finishing touch in the 87th minute.
Mendes laughed after the game: "I hit twenty free-kicks after training and didn't score one. Then I scored with my first one in the game — I thought, this is how it should be."
Ronaldo wasn't upset. Under the photo of the team embracing, he simply wrote: "Together!" 26 million likes, 1.1 million comments. What the national team's PR department couldn't do, he leveled with the press of a button.
Zlatan Ibrahimović was sitting in the Fox Sports commentary box and was asked about Ronaldo's "I'm back." The Swede replied: "He never left. Ronaldo declaring 'I'm back' is like the sun announcing it will rise again tomorrow."
The sun doesn't need to announce sunrise, but Ronaldo does. His Instagram is the heart monitor of this World Cup's dressing room: After the draw with DR Congo, he posted "Far from over" to steady the ship; before the do-or-die match, "Always united!"; after the big win, the team photo with "Together!"; and on June 27 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, after a 0-0 draw with Colombia that confirmed their second-place group finish, he posted a thank-you to fans, hitting a million likes in three minutes.
The score is for the broadcasters; Instagram is his real dressing room amplifier.
CNN Portugal gave Ronaldo a 9/10 for that 5-0 match, with the headline "Seventh Rebirth." Every time public opinion gives him a "retirement ceremony," he kicks the coffin lid open with a goal. While opponents are still figuring out how to defend his off-the-ball movement, he's already cranked up the morale on the opinion battlefield.
K Group table: Portugal 5 pts, 1W 2D, 6 GF, 1 GA, ranked second. Colombia first with 7 pts. DR Congo 4 pts, Uzbekistan 0 pts and eliminated. In the Round of 16, they face the runner-up from Group L—Croatia or Ghana. As of today, Group L is still a messy pool to sort out.
Career total: 975 goals, 25 short of the 1,000 milestone. According to Gary Neville's take that Ronaldo "could play until 2030," these 25 goals wouldn't even be enough to whet his appetite.
In the mixed zone post-match, a journalist asked him his views on Messi's Golden Boot challenge.
He turned and walked away.
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