Cristiano Ronaldo had another clutch performance in his career in the Round of 32 of the World Cup against his old friend from Real Madrid Luka Modric and the Croatian national team, who are always contenders to win the trophy.
Although Ronaldo's brilliant goal was chalked off by VAR, he cooly deposited the penalty kick to make it three goals in four games at a World Cup in which many pundits were gleefully calling his demise after a rough first game against a highly underrted DR Congo side.
The Round of 16 will get even tougher for Portugal, though, as they must survive reigning European Champions and rivals Spain, who have their own host of superstars with crucial Barcelona players Pedri, Pau Cubarsi, and, of course, Lamine Yamal in their starting lineup.
Cristiano Ronaldo transcends the game itself
These Barcelona stars, though, have the utmost respect for the 41 year old Ronaldo despite him being a legend of Real Madrid, their greatest rival. And Cubarsi, the incredible young center back for Spain, did not hold back how much respect he has for Cristiano; he even sounded like as much of a fan of the superstar as the Madridista crowd themselves.
Pau Cubarsi told reporters ahead of Spain vs. Portugal, via Fabrizio Romano, Playing against a legend like Cristiano Ronaldo would be unforgettable. I’d ask him for his shirt, but there will be a queue!”.
That is the honest, humble response of a professional competitor who grew up watching Cristiano Ronaldo, ackonwledges his greatness, and is ready to have a sporting match with the Portuguese No. 7 without any shenanigans - and it feels like this sort of honesty and respect is missing from the game in the punditry box among those who are supposed to be honestly analzying the game and celeberating it.
And thus, it is quite interesting to see how certain players like Ronaldo have the greatness and class that transcends something as palpable and intense as the Clasico rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Most Barcelona players would never admit this about Ronaldo out loud, even if this is how they feel, but Cubarsi just did.
Of course, on the pitch, Cubarsi surely will not let his fandom get in the way of his performance and hand Cristiano any gifts. Ronaldo has faced the tightest marking of any player at the 2026 World Cup thus far, and Cubarsi is a phenom on the defensive end, nearly to the level that his Barcelona and Spanish teammate Lamine Yamal is on the attacking end. We are headed for another World Cup classic featuring Portugal.
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