Portugal’s draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo has raised many doubts about the team’s performance. team led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The latter has been the target of several criticisms and comparisons with other soccer stars who started their participation in the World Cup in a better way, like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland.
Among the criticisms that the Portuguese received figure his lack of “companionship” in the match and his supposed constant pursuit of scoring to increase his individual achievements.
In the midst of this criticism, this June 19, one of his teammates and scorer of Portugal’s only goal in this World Cup, João Neves spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo and caused various reactions.
When questioned about the leadership of Cristiano in the Portugal national team, Neves said:
“We know what Cristiano has done for our team, but at this moment, I think that both he and everyone else sees him as another companion who comes to lend a hand; “He is no different from the others and he will contribute the same as everyone else.”
The statements of the Portuguese player were collected by local media in Portugal, such as the newspaper O Jogo.
Despite his statements, Neves did not want to convey a pessimistic message and stated that the draw that his team obtained with the Democratic Republic of the Congo “will not discourage them.
“We are very united and that, in the long term, will make a difference. This tie is not going to discourage us,” he said.