"Criticism gets best out of Ronaldo": Bruno Fernandes

Attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes believes criticism gets the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo and he urged the striker's critics to keep dishing out more for the success of Portugal.

With a penalty kick in the 3-2 victory over Ghana in their World Cup opening on Thursday, Ronaldo became the first player to score in five World Cups.

In the wake of his interview with Piers Morgan, his contract with Manchester United was cancelled, and it was the culmination of a week that saw him become a free agent. Fernandes believes this shows the 37-year-old thrives under pressure.

"I think he likes to work under that criticism from everyone, so I pray all of you to keep doing that because he gets the best of himself when you guys do that. It was a dream come true to play with him in the national team and in the club also, and that is something amazing. I still share the space with him in the national team and the main thing for me is that Portugal does the best we can in the tournament because if we do it, Cristiano will be happy, I will be happy and everyone in Portugal will be happy for us," said Fernandes.

After his second stint at Old Trafford came to an end this week due to his criticism of Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo is now searching for a new club.

However, he said he is totally focused on Portugal ahead of their Group H matches against Uruguay and South Korea after they started their World Cup campaign with a victory.

"The most important step is we won. It was a week that finished this chapter. This chapter is closed. We wanted to start with a good foot. We won. I could help my team. All the rest does not matter. This was a beautiful moment, my fifth World Cup. We won, we started with a good foot. A very important win. We know the first match is crucial. But also a world record. The first player in five World Cups to score. That makes me proud. I'm very happy for the team that we got a good result. A tough game but a good result," Ronaldo said.

Earlier a resilient Portugal put up a good performance against Ghana to register a victory by 3-2 in their thrilling opening match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 here at Stadium 974.

Ronaldo missed a couple of big chances in the early stage of the match in the first half but finally put Portugal in front with a goal from the penalty spot.

In the 65th minute of the game, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in five different World Cups.