India, July 5 -- Gavi rushed to Cristiano Ronaldo's defence with a response to his critics ahead of Spain's FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 encounter against Portugal. The Spanish midfielder claimed that Ronaldo is still crucial to Portugal, and that the criticism usually comes from people who are not on his team.

The 41-year-old has been facing plenty of criticism lately, with many fans and former players urging Roberto Martinez to bench him. Ronaldo has been in Portugal's starting line-up throughout their campaign and hasn't been dropped yet. Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo in their opener, and Ronaldo had a poor outing, failing to outfox the AFCON side's resolute defence.

He scored a brace against Uzbekistan but once aga...