Cristiano Ronaldo will end his goal drought for the national side naturally as all great forwards obsessed with hitting the net end up doing, according to Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz.

"I've worked with many great forwards like Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, players who always show that pride and will do what they do best, score goals, but goals from these players end up coming naturally," Queiroz told reporters on Friday.

"As much as people think they are obsessed or disturbed with the issue, goals end up happening and they carry on scoring," he added.

Portugal drew 0-0 in their opening Group G game on Tuesday against the Ivory Coast in Port Elizabeth.

Ronaldo, who became the world's most expensive player when he moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United for a fee of 80 million euros ($99.06 million) last year, almost scored against the Ivorians but his long-distance drive hit the post.

If that terrific effort had hit the net it would have been his first goal for Portugal in a competitive match for two years, contrasting sharply with his tally of 26 goals in his first season in the Spanish League.

The 25-year-old can be lethal from free kicks, his fierce, winding efforts often leaving keepers standing.

But his poor efficiency on dead balls for Portugal is not a unique case at this World Cup, with few goals coming from free kicks after the first week of action.

"It's still early. I think at the end of the World Cup you will see 30 or 40 percent of goals have come from dead balls.

"In our case against the Ivory Coast, we simply didn't get a chance to score from those situations as many illegal tackles were not penalized," Queiroz said.

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