Despite not scoring in either of Portugal’s World Cup tune-ups this month, 41-year-old captain Cristiano Ronaldo insists his fitness level is not a concern.
“Physically? I’m fine,” the forward told reporters on Friday, per ESPN. “Have you not seen my matches?”
Ronaldo scored 28 times for his club this season to help Al Nassr to the Saudi Pro League title in his fourth campaign with the club. But the level of average opponent in the SPL is a considerable step down from Europe, even if the top few teams are concentrated with former European league talent.
Ronaldo will be appearing in his sixth World Cup and attempting to add to eight career World Cup goals. Portugal’s Group K opener is on Wednesday against DR Congo in Houston.
And despite his age, manager Roberto Martinez has continued to make the five-time Ballon d’Or winner the attacking focus of his side. Ronaldo led Portugal with five goals in qualifying and started five of their six matches, averaging 1.23 goals per 90 minutes in the process.
But with Portugal facing eight matches in 33 days if they want to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time, Ronaldo’s durability was always going to come into scrutiny.
That includes reactions to his relatively unremarkable performances in pre-tournament friendlies, even if those are generally as useful for predicting tournament performance as preseason NFL games are for forecasting pro football’s regular season.
“It has been good but tiring because we’ve worked hard,” Ronaldo said of Portugal’s preparations. “We’ve had the upper hand in our matches, but what matters most is when the ball starts rolling on the 17th, in the first game, and then when the pressure really starts to mount — that’s when we’ll see the true champions.”
Ronaldo is far from the only aging star who will be asked to play major minutes for a projected tournament contender.
All signs point to the 40-year-old Luka Modric playing as much as possible for a Croatian side that finished second in the 2018 World Cup and third in 2022. Lionel Messi, who turns 39 on June 24, is still integral to Argentina’s World Cup title defense, having led all South American teams with eight goals in World Cup qualifying.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
