Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister slams brother’s World Cup performance | Football | Sport
Ronaldo, now aged 41, spearheaded the attack for the entire match on Wednesday in Houston but missed two crucial second-half opportunities as the Euro 2016 champions sought a decisive goal. The Selecao seized an early advantage through midfielder Joao Neves’ flicked header.
However, they were pulled level on the brink of half-time when Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa nodded in DR Congo’s maiden World Cup goal. Ronaldo has now endured 10 successive major tournament fixtures without registering for his nation – a spell during which he has unleashed 33 attempts without troubling the scoresheet.
The pressure has grown so severe that Ronaldo’s sister felt obliged to contribute to the post-match analysis, acknowledging that the Portugal captain and his colleagues had delivered significantly below expectations. Katia Aveiro, who lives in Brazil, wrote on Instagram: “Obviously as a fan of my country, I was disappointed. We didn’t play well, nobody played well.”
“They magically forgot how to pass the ball, how to win the ball, how to counter-attack […] this World Cup is strange. But as I’ve always heard: ‘Bad beginnings, good endings’. Let’s think positively, only those who are there make mistakes. They made mistakes, they weren’t the team we expected – nobody played well in my humble opinion.”
She added: “But am I sad? How can I be sad? I get sad when I see that image of Diogo Jota’s mother and father, that’s what sadness is. It would be selfish of me to feel sad because of the disappointment of our draw in the World Cup opener. Especially since I woke up happy today and this draw isn’t going to take away my happiness.”
Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates will be eager to put things right on Tuesday evening when they take on Uzbekistan at Houston Stadium in their second FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage fixture.
