People don’t like to be proven wrong. But never have I been more glad to be proven wrong.

Never did I think I would be among those doubting Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old looked human in Portugal’s opening World Cup match against DR Congo — laboured, anonymous, a shadow of the man who has dominated this sport for two decades. His shoulders slumped. His head dropped. It seemed, finally, that Ronaldo had started to fade.

But the highest goalscorer in the history of men’s international football has a habit of rising from adversity. When the pressure is highest, Ronaldo shines brightest. That’s what he’s done his whole career. Time and time again.

There’s a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche that comes to mind whenever Ronaldo has a bad game and then rebounds: “The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good thing for the first time.”

Ronaldo’s memory, it seems, is very bad.

On Tuesday night in Houston, he did it again. Portugal thrashed Uzbekistan 5-0, and Ronaldo was at the heart of it all.

He scored in the sixth minute — pouncing on a loose ball to fire home — becoming the first player in history to score in six different World Cup tournaments.

Before half-time, he added a second with a smart finish, taking his World Cup tally to 10 goals and surpassing Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time top scorer in the competition.

The performance was a stark contrast to the stale 1-1 draw against DR Congo that had sparked renewed calls for Ronaldo to be dropped. In that match, he had finished with the fewest touches of any Portugal player who featured for more than 45 minutes. He looked lost. The critics sharpened their knives.

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, however, never wavered. He had said after the DR Congo match that substituting Ronaldo made no sense — “not when you need goals”.

And Ronaldo repaid that faith in Houston.

“I can say it was a very tough week, a difficult week, a week in which public opinion was very harsh on us, on all the players, especially on the coach,” Ronaldo said after the match.

“But well, it was a good response from me and my teammates, which is what we wanted.”

He added: “I always arrive, even if it’s later, but I’m there.”

Martinez said of his captain: “I’ve never worked with a player that has got that capacity — that whatever happens today, tomorrow is going to be the hungriest player to improve.”

Uzbekistan’s coach Fabio Cannavaro — a World Cup-winning defender who knows a thing or two about marking greats — summed it up best: “If you give one centimetre in the box, you are dead.”

Record-breaking has been the theme of this World Cup. Lionel Messi breaking Miroslav Klose’s all-time record. Kylian Mbappe levelling with Klose at 16. Erling Haaland dragging Norway into the knockout stage for the first time. And now Ronaldo, joining the party in his own way.

But with Ronaldo, it’s never just about records. It’s about the weight of expectation that comes with them. For 23 years, he has been the standard — the measuring stick for greatness. So when he looks human, people notice. When he fails to deliver, the knives come out.

That’s the curse of being the best. You have to deliver every game. Because consistency isn’t just what Ronaldo does — it’s what he is.

As long as the younger generation has been watching football, there’s always been a Ronaldo-Messi debate. Many argued it was settled when Messi lifted the most prestigious trophy in football in 2022. There is no denying Messi’s magic. But for almost every aspiring player, replicating Messi is a thought hard to entertain.

On the other hand, if a young player watches Ronaldo, they might think: ‘Yes, that’s doable’. But we have yet to see anyone do it with Ronaldo’s consistency.

Maybe that’s why Ronaldo is more popular among the younger generation — a true inspiration, a reason many footballers look up to him. And that’s why the GOAT debate will probably never settle.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 now and still doing what he does best — consistently. He isn’t chasing anyone at this point in his career. He’s already ahead of everyone talking about him.

After his first goal against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo looked into a television camera and shouted: “I’m back. I’m back.”

But I don’t remember at which point he was ever not here. The World Cup is the only trophy missing from Ronaldo’s unreal catalogue. Whether he wins it and ascends to immortality or not, one thing is clear: until he is here, never count him out.