Ronaldo: "Messi? Mbappé also scored, Haaland too..."

Present in the mixed zone at the Houston stadium after Portugal's thrashing of Uzbekistan, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked about the significance of the goals that – in addition to his own – Lionel Messi has also been scoring in the World Cup, but he reacted negatively.

"I couldn't care less about others. Mbappé also scored, Haaland too..." replied the national team captain as he walked away from the area.

Earlier, Cristiano had already praised the team's response to the criticism that emerged after their draw with DR Congo in the opening match.

"I often talk to my teammates, and it's impossible to control what comes from outside. A great virtue is being able to control oneself. That's what I try to do. It was a difficult week; the criticism was very strong, especially towards me, but I have 23 or 24 years in my career and I can handle it well. Before the game, I spoke about some insights I had, because criticism always comes as an opportunity to improve. We worked very well. What matters is what's inside; we can't control the outside. I'm very satisfied; I managed to score two goals, but the important thing was the team's response, which played very well, with tight lines and players working together," he added.

Cristiano was also asked if two set-piece plays from the Portuguese team illustrated the group's unity: the direct free-kick that Nuno Mendes took for the second goal, and then a free-kick where he stepped over the ball to receive a pass from Bruno Fernandes behind Uzbekistan's wall, a play saved by the goalkeeper.

"I was going to take the first one, but I told Nuno we were going to trick the goalkeeper. That's what I said: to be united from start to finish. Today I was man of the match; tomorrow it will be someone else. If we are united, we can go very far," he further stated.