MOSCOW: Cristiano Ronaldo has already had his moment at the World Cup. Moments rather, unlike his age-old rival Lionel Messi or heir apparent Neymar. Ronaldo lit up the tournament with a hat-trick against Spain in Portugal’s opening Group ‘B’ match in Sochi, the highlight of his performance being a sumptuous late free-kick to secure a point for his country.

It’s something that has eased the pressure off him. In the biggest group match for his side; the biggest fixture of the group stage by a long way, Ronaldo reveled under pressure, stealing the spotlight like he so often does. Amongst the stars expected to light up the World Cup, only he has delivered so far. The burden of expectation off his broad shoulders, Ronaldo has been seen training over the last two days with a broad smile on his face.

Portugal are based at the Saturn Training Centre, the training facility of Russian lower-league side FC Saturn. Saturn are nicknamed Aliens and Humanoids. It’s only appropriate Ronaldo is training at Saturn. The moments of magic he conjures up can make one feel he’s extraterrestrial.

Take that outrageous bicycle kick goal against Juventus last season when he just hung up at elevation, defying the gravitational pull, and hooked a right leg at the ball. In Ronaldo’s world, that is the norm — he recreated that goal days later in training.

It would’ve been the goal of the season but Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale scored with another spectacular overhead kick in the Champions League final. The stage of Bale’s goal took away the crown from Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s goal had come in the quarter-finals. Bale, to a lesser extent, and Loris Karius, to a greater extent, took the focus away from Ronaldo in the final.

Now, though, he’s firmly in the limelight; the eyes of the world firmly fixed on what he will produce next. “You can’t compare Messi with Ronaldo,” said Portuguese midfielder Adrien Silva at the tranquil surroundings of the team’s base camp on Sunday. Less than 24 hours after Ronaldo’s exploits against Spain, Messi failed to be the inspiration for Argentina against Iceland leading to comparisons between the two spring up again; the longstanding debate over who is the best player in the world.

Adrien Silva was responding to his views on that. “Ronaldo is an example for us every day, not only in the games, in the goals he makes, in the behaviour he has and in leadership as our captain. For me it’s a source of great pride just to be able to share the spa with him. Obviously he is the best in the world.

“Without the best player in the world, we would have a harder task to try to get far in the World Cup. I’d rather have him on my team than the other side. Thankfully that’s not the case. He is with us very well and I hope he continues like this.”

For many, Ronaldo’s demeanor appears to be that of an arrogant, narcissistic player whose sole obsession is being head and shoulders above the rest. The Leicester City midfielder did not agree. “When the match ended, he went into the locker room to greet everyone,” said Adrien Silva. “In addition, he doesn’t usually gloat about his successes but the most important thing for him is that the team wins.”

It was Ronaldo who carried them to the Euro 2016 final where, after getting injured early on, he rallied his team-mates from the sidelines as Portugal won their first major silverware. At 33, this could be Ronaldo’s last World Cup and there his body language and expressions show he’s confident and determined to take Portugal further than 2006, when they finished third. Then, Portugal had several leaders in their team: Luis Figo, Deco, Nuno Gomes and Costinha. Now, Ronaldo is Portugal’s undisputed leader; Portugal is Ronaldo and 22 more.

On Wednesday, Ronaldo and Portugal take on Morocco at the Luzhniki Stadium, where victory will push them close to qualifying from their group. Such is the infatuation with Ronaldo, though, that two days before that game, and a day after Adrien Silva appeared before the media, striker Andre Silva’s press conference was loaded with questions on Portugal’s talisman. Everyone wants to know everything about Ronaldo.

“Playing alongside him is a dream,” said Andre Silva on Monday. “He makes things easier for us because he’s the best in the world.”

Ronaldo has touted the 22-year-old Andre Silva as his long-term successor for Portugal. But he has to go a long way to go to emulate his compatriot. With his goals against Spain, Ronaldo joined Ferenc Puskas as Europe’s leading goal-scorer in international matches with 84. Andre Silva has 12 so far.

For now, Andre Silva wants to reap the benefits of playing in a team that revolves around Ronaldo. “When we are together on the pitch, we move in a way to open spaces for each other,” he said. “By his side things go more natural, sometimes he facilitates passes that are difficult.”

It’s Ronaldo’s penchant for making difficult things easy what makes him standout as the world’s best player.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018