Golden oldies fighting for the Golden Boot? Let us not get ahead of ourselves. But it will do Cristiano Ronaldo’s ego no harm that he is off the mark for this summer, particularly given Lionel Messi’s voracious appetite to keep long-burning fires ablaze. Nor will it pass unnoticed that he has broken a record of his own. In breaching Uzbekistan twice during the opening period of what quickly became a leisurely non-contest, Ronaldo became the first player to score in six editions of the World Cup.
It meant Portugal’s travelling fans, assuming some had snuck in among the CR7 tourists, got what they came for. They also saw a less seemly run put to rest. Ronaldo had not scored in 10 major tournament games until facing a defence that would have struggled to handle a masters game. Uzbekistan were utterly unequipped to repel opponents of this standard and the five-goal margin felt conservative.
