Houston: Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday at 2am (AEST) in their opening match at the World Cup.
DR Congo, who are playing at the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, became the second African nation to make a strong start in the tournament against European competition following Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw with Spain on Tuesday (AEST).
Cristiano Ronaldo is not happy.Getty
“The World Cup is a tournament where this happens,” said Portugal coach Roberto Martínez, a Spaniard who coached Belgium to the semi-finals at the 2018 tournament. “At times, the performance is not up to the challenge.”
Playing in front of a crowd of 68,777 spectators at NRG Stadium, which was mostly filled with Portugal supporters, DR Congo earned their first point at the World Cup after losing all three of their previous matches.