'Why would you ever doubt Ronaldo?'

Former Manchester United midfielder and current pundit Roy Keane said there was nothing surprising about Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice in the first half against Uzbekistan in Portugal’s convincing 5-0 win in the Group K match in Houston on Wednesday.

Ronaldo scored twice before the break to become the first man to score at six different World Cups, arriving a week late to a tournament already lit up by Lionel Messi's record-breaking display the day before.

ITV pundit Keane spoke at half-time, and said he was not surprised in the least at Ronaldo’s first half brace.

"It is amazing: Messi becomes the man with the most goals in a World Cup, and Ronaldo now becomes the first man to score in six World Cups," Keane said. "Why would you ever doubt him?"

Keane acknowledged the moment carried weight even for a player of Ronaldo's stature.

"There are no surprises here: no surprises that he would turn up today. If you give him some good delivery and he hangs around there long enough, it's a brilliant finish.

"He has that immense confidence, and it's amazing what he's done in the game of football over the last 20-odd years, but you can still see the relief from him there. It tells you how much he cares about the game."

Ronaldo also turned heads when he let go of an opportunity to take a free-kick near the box, and allowed left-back Nuno Mendes to take the shot instead.

Keane said he was in the minority as he sensed Ronaldo would let Nuno to take it.

"Everybody would be expecting Ronaldo to take this," he said. "I think I'm the only one who didn't think he'd be taking it, as it was better suited to a left-footer."

Keane suggested Ronaldo's thinking was straightforward once he had already scored.

"I think if he hadn't scored yet, he'd be thinking, 'I'm taking this,' but he leaves it to his team-mates," he said. "The goalkeeper is obviously on his heels, probably distracted by Ronaldo, but the strike just hits the target with enough pace."

Keane was candid about the quality of the opposition goalkeeper.

"He's blinded himself there. He's obviously not a top-level goalkeeper. The goalkeeping seems not that great, yeah, but listen, Portugal are up and running."