GOALS PER GAME

Is it a cross? Is it a shot? Is it Superman? As Bruno Fernandes curled the ball into the box, Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet wasn’t sure if Cristiano Ronaldo, who had made a run, would get to it. In the confusion, he forgot to cover the main line. The ball sneaked in. For a couple of minutes, Ronaldo thought he had clipped it, joining Eusebio as Portugal’s record World Cup goal scorer. He looked at the dugout, gave a thumbs-up, and celebrated with clenched biceps. But the goal was then awarded to Fernandes. Ronaldo, hadn’t touched it, after all.

Though it may be argued that Ronaldo deserved at least an assist for confusing the goalkeeper, he desperately wanted that goal. So that he could be the hero again. For Portugal, and for himself.

“I celebrated as if it was Cristiano’s goal. It seemed to me that he had touched the ball. My aim was to cross the ball for him,” Fernandes said the game ended in a 2-0 win for Portugal.

For most of the game, Ronaldo was virtually invisible but, in that moment, he sensed an opportunity and took off. For most of the game, he seemed to conserve his energy, but in front of goal, he motivated himself to go for a wild lunge. For most of the game, he seemed a step slower. The arms still pumped hard, but the others caught up to him, and his first touch just wasn’t as mesmerising as it used to be. He was still Ronaldo, but then, he wasn’t quite. Much of what fans feel when they watch Ronaldo these days – whether in his miserable last few months at Manchester United or with the national team – can be classified as hope. He doesn’t quite fit into the plans of most of the top club teams, but this is Portugal: How do you keep him out when he wants to play? How do you deny one of your greatest?

In the early days, the Portuguese public couldn’t warm up to Ronaldo. Though his technical ability was exceptional, and he had moulded himself into one of the two best players on the planet, his arrogance and his win-at-all-cost attitude lowered his likability.

It was clear that Ronaldo was driven in a different way – by records; by the urge to be the best; even better than Messi. It was an all-consuming drive that often made it seem like he could only focus on himself; that he put himself first, and the team second.

Though Portugal wept with a heartbroken Ronaldo, then 19, as he broke down after his team lost the final of Euro 2004, his lacklustre performances in four major national tournaments between 2006 and 2012 weighed against him. Club versus country, in the Ronaldo context, became a heated debate in Portugal.

But it started to change in 2013, when Ronaldo appeared to realise he needed to do more to connect with fans back home. He started spending more time in Portugal. His all-or-nothing approach to football didn’t change, but local fans started appreciating it a little more.

And then the Euro 2016 win, which came when almost no one gave Portugal a chance, ended up inspiring a whole new era. An injury in the 25th minute of the final against France forced Ronaldo to leave the field, but it seemed he was still in the game – limping on the touchline, rallying his players, shouting out instructions. This was a whole new Ronaldo, one that Portugal wholeheartedly embraced.

This is Ronaldo’s fifth World Cup, and for now, coach Fernando Santos has chosen to have the striker as the focal point from where attacks begin and end. It might seem that Portugal without Ronaldo are a faster unit, but there is a lot more at play here – the inspirational ability of CR7.

He may be slower, he may be older, but there is no doubting his determination and desire.

And at the World Cup, when the pressure is on, he just might be the edge Portugal need.

Ronaldo’s scoring record for Real Madrid is far higher than for Portugal (0.61 goals/game). His overall club record is also better (0.76) at the five World Cups he has played – only one goal behind Portuguese legend Eusebio, who found the back of the net nine times at the 1966 World Cup