Join The Club
It shouldn't be a surprise that a 41-year-old centre-forward might prove to be a bit immobile and short of his former glorious level.
But there are plenty of Cristiano Ronaldo admirers who refuse to accept that he suffers from human fallibility and will defend him against the very evidence of their own eyes.
Ronaldo was a clear issue in Portugal's 1-1 draw against DR Congo, with his failure to score at a major tournament now extending all the way back to the opening game of the 2022 World Cup - four years and ten games ago.
Play our FREE match predictor and win £1k
Midfielder Joao Neves, who scored Portugal's opener, said after the game: "We know what Cristiano has done for our national team.
"But at this moment I feel, from him and from all of us, that he is just another one to help [the team]; he’s no different from the others."
That entirely reasonable stance has been taken by some of Ronaldo's more effusive apologists as a devastating slight against him, somehow.
Neves' social media accounts, and those of his girlfriend Madalena Aragao, were soon overrun with criticism from Ronaldo's fans.
Portugal teammate Bruno Fernandes and PSG colleague Achraf Hakimi both expressed their support for Neves in the form of emoji, causing both of them to come under fire too.
Ronaldo's sister, Katia Aveiro, was meanwhile seen to have liked a post criticising Fernandes' own performance against DR Congo.
The post read: "This one here (Fernandes) is the Raphinha for Portugal. He bottles it too much for the national team."
Former centre-forwards turned pundits Chris Sutton and Thierry Henry criticised Ronaldo's performance - and manager Roberto Martinez for keeping Ronaldo on the field for the full 90 minutes.
Portugal will return to action by taking on Uzbekistan on Tuesday, before rounding out their group stage against group-topping Colombia the following Sunday.
The top two sides in each group go through to the knockout stages alongside the eight best third-placed sides.
