Portugal’s defender Diogo Dalot revealed that they were prepared for social media backlash at the World Cup. Roberto Martinez’s team was stunned in their opening game of the tournament as they could only produce a 1-1 draw against DR Congo.

The team’s veteran Cristiano Ronaldo faced a lot of criticism after he failed to hit the target even once in the three chances he received. After Joao Neves scored the opening goal for Portugal in the fifth minute, the team could not carry the impetus forward, and Congo was able to capitalise as Yoane Wissa scored from a header at the cusp of half-time.

Portugal dominated the possession but surprisingly could only manage a solitary shot on target.

After the draw, former France and Arsenal forward Thierry Henry was among those who slammed Ronaldo, saying “the team needs to score, not you need to score.”

“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 [social media and criticism],” Dalot said.

“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 unshakable — 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.”

Portugal will next play Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Houston before facing Colombia in their Group K final game on June 27.