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Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. The photos emerging from the Knicks' parade in lower Manhattan are simply stunning. The parade route runs just a few blocks from the former SI offices, and I've never seen those streets packed like that. We're following every development from the parade in a live blog.
In today's SI:AM:
🇵🇹 Portugal struggles in WC opener
⚾ MLB All-Star picks
🇲🇽 Mexico's NBA draft prospect
How do you say "washed" in Portuguese?
Cristiano Ronaldo is without question the greatest player in Portuguese national team history, but the time has come for the squad to acknowledge that his reign as a global superstar is exactly that—history.
Portugal kicked off its World Cup campaign on Wednesday in Houston with a 1–1 draw against DR Congo. The Portuguese broke through just six minutes in via a header from João Neves but rarely threatened after that. DR Congo leveled just before the break and held firm in the second half to claim a hard-earned point.
Ronaldo offered very little throughout the match. He didn't register his first shot until the 67th minute, and all three of his efforts missed the target. Or perhaps more accurately, Ronaldo's most notable contributions were detrimental ones. For much of the game, he appeared more concerned with scoring himself than with helping the team find the net. He seemed to operate under the assumption that the entire attack should revolve around him.
On the Fox postgame show, Thierry Henry delivered a thorough breakdown of how Ronaldo's self-centered approach was hurting the team. Henry highlighted one moment in the second half when Portugal was pressing in the final third. Portugal had three players inside the 18-yard box with three Congolese defenders marking them. Had Ronaldo made a run toward goal, it would have opened up space for Bruno Fernandes to receive a pass with time and room to shoot. Instead, Ronaldo moved toward the ball, cutting across a pass seemingly meant for Fernandes, and fired wide.
"The team needs to score, not you need to score," Henry said.
Ronaldo has enjoyed one of the most decorated club careers in football history. He's claimed the Ballon d'Or five times, five Champions League titles, and seven league championships across Europe's top divisions. Yet World Cup glory with Portugal has remained out of reach. For a player whose legacy has been so intertwined with Lionel Messi's, the absence of a World Cup title remains the most glaring difference between their careers.
Ronaldo isn't going to carry Portugal to a World Cup the way Messi did in 2022, but he could still be part of a team that lifts the trophy. His selfish, ego-driven play is the primary obstacle holding Portugal back at this moment. The DR Congo match was the 10th consecutive game at a major international tournament in which he failed to score. Portugal boasts a wealth of talent playing at some of Europe's elite clubs, yet the team continues to orbit around a 41-year-old who has spent the last four seasons cashing checks in Saudi Arabia.
That's not to suggest Ronaldo can no longer contribute positively for Portugal. It's simply that his role must evolve. It's hard to fathom that Ronaldo, as ineffective as he was against DR Congo, was permitted to play all 90 minutes. Why not deploy him from the bench when the team needs a late goal? Rather than managing his energy over a full match, he could come on as a substitute and make more explosive runs at goal without worrying about running out of steam. Fernando Santos, who managed Portugal from 2014 to '22, had the courage to drop Ronaldo at the last World Cup. After failing to register a shot on target in either of the team's final two group stage matches, Ronaldo was left out of the starting XI for both of the team's remaining games. Gonçalo Ramos stepped in during the Round of 16 against Switzerland and delivered a hat trick in a 6–1 rout. Ronaldo came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. He also entered off the bench in the quarterfinal defeat to Morocco.
The challenge for Portugal is that Ronaldo and Ramos are the only genuine strikers on the squad. Ramos shone more brightly a few years back when he was tearing through the Portuguese league with Benfica before moving to Paris Saint-Germain for around $75 million, but he's coming off a modest season at PSG (six goals in 30 league outings). Even so, it's worth exploring whether he can better unlock the team's attacking rhythm compared to Ronaldo leading the line. The silver lining for manager Roberto Martínez is that Portugal's next fixture, against Uzbekistan, presents a good chance for some tactical experimentation. Portugal should have enough quality to see off the World Cup newcomers even if Ronaldo continues to crowd the area in front of goal.
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4. Everson Pereira's catch in center field as he crashed into the wall. Pereira's White Sox were trailing the Yankees, 10–3, at the time. Credit to him for giving full effort even with the game well out of hand. "That's what we are here for," Pereira said of his play, speaking through an interpreter. "Even though we were down seven runs, we have a pitcher on the mound. The runs count for him, too. We want to do our best to help each other."
3. Daniel Muñoz's brilliant one-touch finish for Colombia's second goal against Uzbekistan.
2. Caleb Yirenkyi's winning goal for Ghana against Panama deep in stoppage time. Yirenkyi got the finish, but it was Antoine Semenyo's through ball and Brandon Thomas-Asante's full-throttle sprint to chase it down that made the moment possible.
1. The small group of Congolese supporters celebrating their team's goal against Portugal at a watch party in Lisbon.
Today's best reads
The Uncomfortable Truth: Is Cristiano Ronaldo Holding Portugal Back?
Cristiano Ronaldo Sends Emphatic Message to His Doubters Before Portugal's World Cup Opener
Portugal Predicted Lineup vs. DR Congo: World Cup Group K
Portugal vs. DR Congo—World Cup: Preview, Predictions and Lineups
Portugal Player Ratings vs. DR Congo: Ronaldo Extends Frustrating Four-Year Wait
Dan Gartland writes Sports Illustrated's flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and hosts the "Stadium Wonders" video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, after previously being published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a Fordham University graduate, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).