2026 World Cup: Why I didn’t substitute Ronaldo against DR Congo – Martinez

Portugal caput coach, Roberto Martinez, has fixed his reasons for allowing Cristiano Ronaldo play the afloat 90 minutes against DR Congo on Wednesday.

Ronaldo failed to animate his team, arsenic they began their 2026 World Cup run with a 1-1 gully successful Houston.

The Al Nassr forward’s show attracted a batch of criticisms, with galore fans and pundits insisting helium is dragging the squad back.

But Martinez has leapt to the 41-year-old’s defence, hailing him arsenic the champion footballer successful the world.

He said: “It made nary consciousness astatine each to instrumentality disconnected Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the champion goalscorer successful history, disconnected the tract erstwhile we were looking for goals.”

Ronaldo would beryllium hoping to find his champion signifier erstwhile Portugal instrumentality connected Uzbekistan successful their adjacent radical game.

2026 World Cup: Why I didn’t substitute Ronaldo against DR Congo – Martinez