Ronaldo Held Silent with Three Shots as Portugal Draws Against DR Congo

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Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, making his sixth World Cup appearance, failed to score in his opening match, managing only three shots. Amidst the struggles of their captain, title contender Portugal drew 1-1 against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Reporter Bae Jung-hoon has the story.

[Reporter]

Like his eternal rival Lionel Messi, Ronaldo stepped onto the World Cup stage for the sixth time, but his presence in the opening match was the polar opposite of Messi's.

Starting as the lone striker, Ronaldo struggled to break through the opponent's defense and failed to record a single shot throughout the entire first half.

He finally had his first scoring opportunity in the 68th minute, but he sent a pass from Conceição wide to the right of the goal.

Ronaldo was left deeply frustrated as his two subsequent shots also failed to hit the target.

With Ronaldo silenced, title favorite Portugal settled for a draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Although they took an early lead with a goal from Neves in the 6th minute, they conceded an equalizer header to Wissa during first-half stoppage time. A decisive goal opportunity in the 55th minute was ruled out for offside, and they ultimately failed to score a winner.

[Martinez/Portugal National Team Head Coach: The first thing I want to say is that the World Cup is a tournament where such upsets are bound to happen. It makes no sense to take out the greatest goalscorer in the history of world football (Ronaldo) in a game where you need a goal.]

Another title favorite, England, secured a pleasant first victory by defeating Croatia.

Star striker Kane scored two goals in the first half alone to join the race for the Golden Boot, while Bellingham and Rashford led the team to victory with goals in their second consecutive tournament.

Ghana, whose starting midfielder Thomas Partey was denied entry into Canada due to sexual assault allegations, managed a narrow victory after a close match against Panama.

In a scoreless tie during second-half stoppage time, Irenki calmly slotted home a pass from Thomas-Asante during a counterattack to secure the winning goal.

(Video Editing: Ha Sung-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.