According to The Athletic, 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo started every match in Portugal's group stage at the FIFA World Cup, and for many it's hard to tell whether Roberto Martínez is the team's head coach or simply a devoted fan of Cristiano Ronaldo. But the reality is Portugal genuinely lacks a strong alternative at striker.

The report notes that it was difficult to distinguish whether this was Miami's Wynwood or Barranquilla, Colombia. A sea of yellow was created inside Hard Rock Stadium, with fans wearing the jerseys of Carlos Valderrama, Andrés Escobar, and James Rodríguez forming a wave of yellow.

A flight from Bogotá to Miami takes nearly as long as one from New York—just under four hours, a short distance from home. Combined with the large Colombian diaspora settled in Florida, tickets for this crucial Group K match were among the most sought-after of the group stage.

Cristiano Ronaldo was another major draw—both as the star player of the Portuguese team and as a figure capable of attracting tens of millions of followers worldwide. But when Cristiano Ronaldo emerged for warm-ups and his face appeared on the stadium's big screen, roars thundered throughout the venue.

The match became clearly Colombia's home game, which only compounded Portugal's attacking difficulties.

Roberto Martínez kept the team based in nearby Palm Beach to prepare, allowing players to acclimate to Florida's humid and hot climate in advance. Two years earlier, Colombia played in the Copa América final at this very stadium; as runners-up in that tournament, they had a strong competitive history and were very familiar with these surroundings.

While the U.S. East Coast was cold and gray that day, with England facing Panama in rainy New Jersey, Miami was sweltering. Although Portugal had strong players on paper, this match was set to be difficult from the start.

Nevertheless, Portugal's on-field struggles exceeded expectations.

Colombia did not field a full-strength lineup in this match.

Head coach Néstor Lorenzo made three changes: Luis Díaz, who scored 38 goals in all competitions for Sporting CP last season, was not in the starting XI; right-back Daniel Muñoz was benched after scoring in the first two matches against DR Congo and Uzbekistan; and Johan Mojica was one yellow card away from suspension, so the coaching staff didn't risk playing him.

Jhon Jáder Duran and Jefferson Lerma also risked accumulation but still played. The players knew that every movement at Hard Rock Stadium felt like walking a tightrope; a suspension from a yellow card would mean missing the Round of 32 match against Ghana.

In theory, this should have benefited Portugal, but the reality proved the complete opposite.

Roberto Martínez had one of the best midfields in the tournament. In this match, he didn't start João Neves but instead chose Rúben Neves paired with Vitinha. Vitinha completed 100% of his passes throughout the match. Still, Roberto Martínez acknowledged, "We couldn't control the rhythm of the game and couldn't extract our players' individual quality."

Portugal's best player that night and Man of the Match was goalkeeper Diogo Costa. Colombia took 24 shots throughout the match, setting a new team record for most shots in a single FIFA World Cup game, surpassing the 23 shots in their match against the United States in 1994—a classic tragic match in which Andrés Escobar scored an own goal.

Had it not been for goalkeeper Costa and assistant referee Andrew Linsey, who made arguably the tournament's most crucial decision during injury time by correctly disallowing a Davinson Sánchez goal for a marginal offside, Portugal would have lost this match.

In Roberto Martínez's view, whether Colombia topped the group didn't matter much, even though it meant Portugal's Round of 32 opponent changed from Ghana to Croatia, and potential later opponents changed from Switzerland and Algeria to Spain. "Whether we win, lose, or draw today doesn't matter," he said. "Our goal is to play eight games, and the opponent doesn't matter."

Roberto Martínez said he viewed the group stage as a preparation and adaptation phase for the knockout rounds. He made changes at halftime in every group match, and all 22 players got playing time—except one who played every minute: Cristiano Ronaldo. Against Colombia, he fell into the offside trap multiple times in promising positions; he rarely dropped back to defend, merely jogging to join when defending corner kicks; and after a water break, his first touch resulted in a poor pass.

Before the match, a Cristiano Ronaldo impersonator in full gear waited for him at the player tunnel; after the final whistle, an influencer in the mixed zone reached out for a fist bump, and after Cristiano Ronaldo reciprocated, the influencer immediately dropped to his knees, crying with joy.

For many, it's hard to tell whether Roberto Martínez is the team's head coach or simply one of Cristiano Ronaldo's devoted fans. He has consistently and firmly backed Cristiano Ronaldo—not just because the experienced striker scored twice against Uzbekistan in the second group match, but also because memories from last summer remain fresh: the 41-year-old superstar scored in consecutive matches against Germany and Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-final and final.

When asked whether he would follow Scaloni's example of resting Messi or Norway's approach of rotating Haaland by giving Cristiano Ronaldo rest in the third group match, Roberto Martínez answered decisively: "We won't make lineup decisions by comparing our players to outsiders; that's naive and unprofessional. We observe real-time field dynamics and combine that with daily training status to make selections, and there's always room for adjustments. In this match, we had João Neves and Rúben Neves each play 45 minutes, and we also rotated Diogo Dalot and João Cancelo."

"The key is for players to maintain mental stability, stick to positional discipline on the field, and create attacking space for the team. In this match, Cristiano Ronaldo was fully ready both physically and mentally to play the full 90 minutes. Substitutions may happen in the next match, and the standard for him and other players is the same; everything depends on performance data."

But fans at Hard Rock Stadium disagreed, and no one called for Gonçalo Ramos, the only backup striker, to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Four years ago at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Ramos appeared to end Cristiano Ronaldo's active career as Portugal's starter: in the Round of 16 match at Lusail Stadium, Ramos replaced him in the starting XI and scored a hat-trick as Portugal defeated Switzerland 6-1. The 21-year-old striker shone brilliantly and was viewed as the future of the attack.

The following summer, he transferred from Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain for €65 million (equivalent to £56 million or $74 million at the time). This week, AC Milan broke the club transfer record to sign him for an even higher fee.

Now, with two Champions League titles, Ramos is no longer a regular starter. Although he scored Paris's first penalty in the Champions League final shootout in May, last season he scored only six goals in Ligue 1. In this match against DR Congo, Roberto Martínez gave Ramos just eight minutes, playing him alongside Cristiano Ronaldo rather than as his replacement, making it difficult to make an impact in such a brief appearance.

Besides Cristiano Ronaldo, does Portugal have another quality centre-forward option? Essentially no—unless they choose to deploy a winger like Rafael Leão as a false nine.

In this World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo oscillates between legend and liability, and Roberto Martínez has no strong alternative to choose from and isn't seriously considering rotation options.

The Spanish coach promised to review group stage performance and make necessary adjustments when the knockout rounds begin.

For now, if you want to bet on which team will go further in this tournament, just listen to the roar of fans at Hard Rock Stadium for your answer.

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