Diogo Dalot leapt to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo as he defined his group have been well-prepared for criticism of the Portugal captain on the World Cup.
Portugal started their Group Ok marketing campaign with a 1-1 draw in opposition to DR Congo at Houston Stadium, with Yoane Wissa cancelling out Joao Neves’ sixth-minute opener.
Ronaldo performed the period of that encounter however struggled to make an impression, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner failing to hit the goal with any of his three photographs.
He has now gone 10 consecutive video games with out scoring a objective at main tournaments for Portugal (World Cup/EUROs), the longest run of his worldwide profession.
Ronaldo’s final strike in both of the 2 competitions was in opposition to Ghana on MD1 of the 2022 World Cup, and he has been criticised for his shows at worldwide stage.
However Dalot defended the 41-year-old regardless of his current struggles, saying: “It is quite simple. Within the locker room, at our stadium, we had the chance earlier than arriving on the World Cup to have an in depth dialog about this. It was virtually as if we might anticipated that this may occur.
“In fact, when you will have a squad like this, particularly with a participant like Cristiano, we now have to be ready, somewhat greater than ordinary.
“The truth that we had that pre-World Cup dialog to organize ourselves for these moments meant that when it truly occurred, we have been capable of ship the message that the group is unshakeable – we knew this was going to occur.
“We knew we might face difficulties and criticism. Generally unfair, generally unfaithful, and infrequently blown out of proportion.”
0 – Cristiano Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive main event video games with out scoring for Portugal (FIFA World Cup/EURO):
33 photographs
11 on track
0 targetsDrought. pic.twitter.com/PYQIHPgCkM
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 17, 2026
Ronaldo’s objective drought in main tournaments has seen him try 33 photographs and amass an anticipated targets (xG) whole of 4.5 throughout these 10 matches.
Certainly, excluding penalties, Ronaldo has gone 13 appearances with no main event objective, firing in 42 non-penalty photographs value 4.5 non-pen xG in these outings.
Portugal’s World Cup marketing campaign continues on Tuesday in opposition to event debutants Uzbekistan, who have been overwhelmed 3-1 by Colombia of their opening group match.
This would be the first ever encounter between the 2 nations, although Portugal are winless of their final two World Cup matches in opposition to groups from the AFC confederation.
Nonetheless, Dalot has backed Ronaldo to bounce again in opposition to Fabio Cannavaro’s facet as they proceed their hunt for a primary World Cup title.
“Everybody already is aware of how nicely Cristiano handles criticism. He has over 20 years of expertise with the nationwide group,” Dalot added.
“I believe what he conveys to the group, that confidence, these criticisms are simply a part of the sport, particularly given the extent at which we’re able to taking part in, being in one of many largest, if not the largest, competitions on the planet.
“The arrogance he instils in us, and we in him, has at all times been the identical and at all times will probably be.
“So long as he represents the nationwide group, I believe he’ll at all times have that potential and can at all times be able to play.”
