Ronaldo still vying to top Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo was defiant after he screamed into the camera: “I’m back! I’m back!”

The flamboyant striker was under pressure after a dismal run of 10 international games without a goal. But he defied the critics and became the first player to score in six World Cups as his double helped Portugal thrash Uzbekistan.

The 41-year-old striker made history by opening the scoring in the sixth minute, and got Portugal’s third and his second just before half time. Portugal won 5-0.

He also became the second oldest man to score at a World Cup, behind Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who was 42 when he shocked Russia in 1994.

Portugal were heavily criticised following a 1-1 draw against DR Congo in their opening game of the tournament. There was pressure on head coach Roberto Martinez to drop Ronaldo, despite him being captain. But they stepped up and demolished the World Cup debutants.

On Monday, Argentina’s Lionel Messi became the top scorer in World Cup history, with a double against Austria taking his total to 18. However, Messi, who turned 39 on Wednesday, has only scored at five of the six tournaments he has played in, failing to register in 2010.

Ronaldo has now struck 10 times since his first appearance in 2006.

Messi has pulled away from Ronaldo in recent years over the perennial argument about who is best of the two. But Ronaldo, still hugely ambitious and motivated despite reaching billionaire status, wants to continue breaking records and would love to lead Portugal to World Cup victory and so raise his standing in the pantheon of greatest ever.

Meanwhile, it is fast becoming a Golden Boot race of huge significance. Messi leads with five goals from two games. Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are second in the standings with four each.

This is only the second time in World Cup history where three players have scored four or more times after two matches - and the first since 1954.

Monday saw another extraordinary few hours of goal scoring from some of the best forwards in history.

Messi broke the World Cup goals total record with his double against Austria.

Then Mbappe responded with two goals in France’s weather-delayed victory against Iraq on his 100th international appearance.

And it was Haaland’s turn soon after, scoring twice as Norway beat Senegal to qualify for the last 32. Not a bad start to his own World Cup career.

England disappointed against Ghana in a dull 0-0 encounter. It was set piece after set piece for England who dominated with 78% possession, but they just could not make one of them count.

Most heart-warming story so far at the World Cup is that Ana Candida Evora, mother of Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar ‘Vozinha’ Dias, was welcomed by FIFA at its Miami headquarters for Cape Verde’s Group H clash against Uruguay on Sunday.

The gesture comes after an emotional moment involving Vozinha following Cape Verde’s historic 0-0 draw against Spain in their tournament opener, where the veteran keeper spoke about his family’s absence from the stands due to visa-related issues. Following the widespread attention his comments received, US authorities, the Cape Verde government and FIFA facilitated travel arrangements for his mother to attend the match against Uruguay. It ended 2-2.

Another momentous episode was seeing the Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room make 15 saves to equal the men’s World Cup record and help earn the tiny Caribbean nation its first World Cup point with a 0-0 draw against heavily favoured Ecuador on Saturday.

Room, 37, bounced back in spectacular fashion from conceding seven times to Germany in his first World Cup match to produce one of the finest performances by a keeper in tournament history.