Diogo Dalot leapt to the defence of Cristiano Ronaldo as he explained his team were well-prepared for criticism of the Portugal captain at the World Cup. 

Portugal began their Group K campaign with a 1-1 draw against DR Congo at Houston Stadium, with Yoane Wissa cancelling out Joao Neves' sixth-minute opener. 

Ronaldo played the duration of that encounter but struggled to make an impact, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner failing to hit the target with any of his three shots. 

He has now gone 10 consecutive games without scoring a goal at major tournaments for Portugal (World Cup/EUROs), the longest run of his international career.

Ronaldo's last strike in either of the two competitions was against Ghana on MD1 of the 2022 World Cup, and he has been criticised for his displays at international level. 

But Dalot defended the 41-year-old despite his recent struggles, saying: "It's very simple. In the locker room, at our stadium, we had the opportunity before arriving at the World Cup to have a detailed conversation about this. It was almost as if we'd anticipated that this would happen.

"Of course, when you have a squad like this, especially with a player like Cristiano, we have to be prepared, a little more than usual.

"The fact that we had that pre-World Cup conversation to prepare ourselves for these moments meant that when it actually happened, we were able to send the message that the group is unshakeable – we knew this was going to happen.

"We knew we'd face difficulties and criticism. Sometimes unfair, sometimes untrue, and often blown out of proportion."

Ronaldo's goal drought in major tournaments has seen him attempt 33 shots and amass an expected goals (xG) total of 4.5 across those 10 matches. 

Indeed, excluding penalties, Ronaldo has gone 13 appearances without a major tournament goal, firing in 42 non-penalty shots worth 4.5 non-pen xG in those outings.

Portugal's World Cup campaign continues on Tuesday against tournament debutants Uzbekistan, who were beaten 3-1 by Colombia in their opening group match. 

This will be the first ever encounter between the two nations, though Portugal are winless in their last two World Cup matches against teams from the AFC confederation. 

However, Dalot has backed Ronaldo to bounce back against Fabio Cannavaro's side as they continue their hunt for a first World Cup title. 

"Everyone already knows how well Cristiano handles criticism. He has over 20 years of experience with the national team," Dalot added. 

"I think what he conveys to the team, that confidence, those criticisms are just part of the game, especially given the level at which we're capable of playing, being in one of the biggest, if not the biggest, competitions in the world.

"The confidence he instils in us, and we in him, has always been the same and always will be.

"As long as he represents the national team, I think he'll always have that ability and will always be ready to play."