Former World Cup winner Thierry Henry succinctly dismantled Cristiano Ronaldo’s limp performance in Portugal’s disappointing draw with DR Congo by repeating the same scathing message: “The team needs to score, not you.”Henry has worn an expression of near permanent disdain throughout his first week as a Fox Sports pundit. Alexi Lalas’s deliberately brash statements have chiefly been the source of that scorn, but it was Ronaldo’s disastrous showing for Portugal which inspired Henry’s latest rebuke.“One thing that’s important,” the Frenchman stressed after Wednesday’s 1–1 draw, looking directly down the camera lens for added impact, “the team needs to score, not you need to score.”The legendary former Arsenal striker highlighted a specific sequence of play during the second half while Portugal was chasing a winner which never came. Francisco Conceição had wriggled into the box and rather than dart towards the far post—which would have put Ronaldo in position to receive a low cross as well as, more importantly, creating space for Bruno Fernandes behind him—the 41-year-old held his position and stabbed a tame effort wide.“Because he wants to score, he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes,” Henry sighed. “It’s easier to defend.”“That’s my thing,” the Frenchman concluded, “the team needs to score, not you.”Cristiano Ronaldo Responds to Waves of Criticism Henry was hardly alone in pointing to Ronaldo as the problem for a very gifted Portugal squad. Even DR Congo’s Lille midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau admitted that the immobile Al Nassr striker is “not the same as before; he’s a little older.” Ronaldo, himself, however, wasn’t overly concerned. “What was missing? Nothing was missing—that’s just how soccer is,” he shrugged during postmatch media duties. “Portugal could have won, but it could also have lost. It could have gone either way,” The targeted forward doubled down on that sanguine stance on social media. “It wasn’t the start we wanted, but this is far from over,” he wrote. “Let’s keep our heads up and focus on the next game.”Remarkably, Ronaldo wasn’t even the most upbeat member of Portugal’s roster about his own performance. João Neves, who opened the scoring for the Nations League champion with an excellent header, hailed his veteran teammate, who has been playing in the World Cup longer than he’s been alive.“We know what Cristiano has done for our national team and for soccer,” the 21-year-old gushed. “I feel like he’s just another teammate helping out; it’s no different. He played very well; the whole team put on an excellent performance. This draw isn’t going to bring us down. On the contrary, it will make us stronger. We’ll create more chances and score more goals.”READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow