'Ronaldo should not start': Experts deliver no-nonsense judgment as Portugal face Uzbekistan

Portugal return to action after nearly a week as they face Uzbekistan in their second Group K match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Houston on Tuesday. Ahead of the match, however, coach Roberto Martinez is facing calls to relegate 41-year-old superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench in order to boost his team's chances of producing a more clinical display.

LIVE | Portugal vs Uzbekistan, FIFA World Cup Group K match in Houston

The 2016 European champions, after all, began their campaign with an underwhelming 1-1 draw against DR Congo, also at the Houston Stadium, failing to collect all three points on offer despite seizing the lead in the sixth minute.

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The spotlight was on veteran superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and whether he would begin the tournament on a red-hot note much like arch-rival Lionel Messi and other leading stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

Not only did Ronaldo fail to score a single goal, having failed to convert several promising chances, he was also accused of being selfish by French legend Thierry Henry, which he felt cost Selecao das Quinas a potential winner.

'I wouldn’t have started him at the beginning of the tournament either'

And former Arsenal midfielder Stewart Robson has called for the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star to be benched for Portugal's second group-stage fixture.

"I don’t think he should start and I wouldn’t have started him at the beginning of the tournament either. I don’t think you can play with somebody who doesn’t event attempt to run in behind as the centre-forward. But if he is going to play, then you have to build the team around him," Robson said on ESPN FC.

Former England manager Sam Allardyce, meanwhile, believes that while Ronaldo may be scoring lots of goals in Saudi Arabia, where he has been playing for Al-Nassr FC since 2023, international football is a "whole new ball game" and the Portuguese legend might not find scoring as easy as he once did.

"I think realistically, when you look at those stats at international level, it’s very difficult to actually say he deserves that position now," Allardyce told Boyle Sports.

"We all grow too old to play football and I think that while he’s one of the super fit guys we’ve seen over many, many years and why he’s lasted this long, it’s clear that in Saudi Arabia, it’s still easy for him to score lots and lots of goals.

"But when it comes to international level, it’s a whole new ball game now," he added.

Martinez remains mum on Ronaldo selection ahead of Uzbekistan game

Martinez, meanwhile, had come to Ronaldo's defence while speaking to reporters after the stalemate against Congo, insisting that it "made no sense" for him to leave the world's leading goal-scorer out of the starting XI.

"It makes no sense to get the best goal-scorer in world football out in a game that you need goals," Martinez said last Wednesday.

"The World Cup is a tournament where these things happen. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia and then went on to win the World Cup. In 2010, Spain lost to Switzerland and then won the World Cup.

"Those weren't performances that looked like those of eventual champions, but that's part of the process," he added.

However, ahead of their game against World Cup debutants Uzbekistan, Martinez remained mum on the topic and refused to confirm right away whether 'CR7' would start or not.

"I can’t inform you about the starting 11 because I haven’t informed my players," Martinez said on Monday on the eve of the Portugal vs Uzbekistan game.