«Because Ronaldo wants to score himself, he cuts across Bruno Fernandes's path and a simple goal is lost»

Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal striker and 1998 World Cup winner with France, offered his analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo's performance against Congo in Portugal's World Cup opener. Now a FOX commentator, the ex-player highlighted a second-half play involving Francisco Conceição and Bruno Fernandes to illustrate what he believes the national team captain is doing wrong.

«One crucial thing, please... for those watching at home... the team needs to score, not just you. Look here. Portugal has the ball, Conceição is about to receive it. Cristiano Ronaldo has been in this situation many times. If you make that run there [away from the ball], you force the defender to make a decision to cover that zone. But because he wants to score, he moves into Bruno Fernandes's path. If he had gone into that small area — he's been in that situation before — the defender would have had to follow him, and then it would have been an easy tap-in for Bruno Fernandes. But because he wants to score, he cuts across the path of the backward pass, you see both players, and it becomes easier for the defense to intercept. And that's my point: the team needs to score, not just you. You saw Bruno Fernandes's reaction behind him, like: 'let the ball run, make the run, create space so I can just tap it in.' It didn't happen,» he explained.