THE LEGEND IN SLO-MO

His brace against Uzbekistan notwithstanding, Cristiano Ronaldo is searching for the speed and mobility that made him one of the greatest attackers of all time

- BY JOB RINOL/LISBON

It is a mystery how Lionel Messi can miss a penalty kick in World Cup games. Three of them across six World Cups, the most by any player. It is also a mystery how he can thread the ball past multiple defenders, yards away from the goal post. What goes on inside his head as he glides into position to receive a ball, only he can tell. What pundits can decipher is that Messi has evolved his game to suit his advancing age, 39 in this World Cup. In the group match against Austria, his average speed was around 12kmph, certainly not suited to the modern power game where the long-legged Erling Braut Haaland can create minor tremors with his pounding run.

But Messi has turned the slow pace into his strength. It gives him time to plot, process and execute. It suits his age. It brings his experience and ground awareness into play.

It is easier to understand Cristiano Ronaldo, whose game is more physical-at 41, he is the oldest non-keeper in this World Cup, and still has a body chiselled out of marble. Veins that glisten under stadium lights, muscles with more definition than 4K. The problem, critics say, is that he now moves like someone actually made of marble.

While Messi has scored all of Argentina's five goals, and the most in World Cup history, Ronaldo started his sixth World Cup without impact.

DR Congo held Portugal among the favourites-to a 1-1 draw, and just one game in, critics and even fans started asking: Is Ronaldo a burden? He gave glimpses of his old self with a brace against Uzbekistan, but this was a team whose inexperienced defence might have struggled against CR7's Saudi club AI Nassr. "I'm back," he shouted at the TV cameras after Portugal won 5-0.

Answering his critics? Yes. Also, perhaps himself and his self doubts.