He added: “I have said this a few times – if you compare my GPS data from English football to Saudi football, I run even more, but with the difference that I run in 40 degrees [celsius].

“I am in good shape physically. Both Cristiano and I proved today that Saudi football has quality.”

Neves suggested it is “of course” realistic for Ronaldo to achieve his new target of 1,000 goals as “with Cristiano, anything is possible”.

Head coach Roberto Martinez explained that Ronaldo was on the bench after starting against Croatia because “Cristiano can’t play two 90-minute games” so close together at his age.

“Cristiano is in a very good moment,” he said. “It’s September, he’s played three games for the club. The important thing is that we need to protect all the players.

“I liked his commitment. He’s an incredible player.”

As against Croatia, Ronaldo was set up by a Nuno Mendes cross, the Paris St-Germain left-back having also come on as a substitute against Scotland.

However, like his manager, Mendes stressed that it was a collective effort to secure a “deserved victory” after “a very tough game”, having to fight back from an early Scott McTominay goal to win 2-1.

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes fired the second-half equaliser but stressed it was “not a perfect” 30th birthday as he would “have preferred it to be less difficult”.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence is always the same, regardless of whether he starts the game or starts on the bench,” he added.

Scotland became the 48th international side to suffer at Ronaldo’s feet, which was hardly a surprise.

But over this game and the Poland defeat there are still areas of major concern for Steve Clarke’s side. Five goals conceded makes it a total of 33 against in their past 14 games.

In five of their past six matches they have conceded after the 85th minute. It is now one win in 14 games and no competitive win in the last year.

Against top opposition, Scotland cannot seem to stem the tide of goals. And late ones, at that.

“I reiterated to my players that we have to understand what part of the cycle we’re in, what we’re trying to build,” head coach Clarke said afterwards.

“We’re trying to re-adjust after the summer. We can lose these matches to try and build and make sure that the end goal, as always, is to qualify for the tournament.”

That suggests Clarke is trying to recalibrate how his team plays after a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign during which they barely fired a shot.

The switch from a back five to a 4-2-3-1 has shown better glimpses of attacking quality, and Scotland had a strong spell after conceding the equaliser to Bruno Fernandes.

The introduction of Ryan Gauld, Ben Doak, and Tommy Conway to this camp also hints at a different approach in preparation for next year’s World Cup qualifiers.

Evolution, not revolution was what Clarke described it as. On the evidence so far there is plenty of work to be done, with limited time to do it and top quality opposition to face.

New Zealand wing Ruby Tui is convinced “something special” will happen when they face England in the first game at the newly named Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

The stadium at Twickenham has been renamed under a new sponsorship deal confirmed by the Rugby Football Union last month.

Next weekend’s Test match is the second warm-up game before the Red Roses travel to WXV1 in Canada, after a 38-19 victory over France at Kingsholm Stadium last Saturday.

“It’s world champions versus world number one,” Tui told BBC Sport. “My mouth is watering.”

New Zealand were the last side to beat England, securing a dramatic victory in the World Cup final in 2022, although John Mitchell’s side gained some revenge by defeating them in Auckland to win last year’s WXV tournament.

The two sides have a long history, meeting in five World Cup finals, with the Black Ferns winning them all.

And Tui, in the starting line-up for New Zealand’s 2022 World Cup final victory on home territory at Auckland’s Eden Park, has nothing but respect for England.

“I’ve got to admit the Red Roses are a very special team. They have carried a lot of tradition with them,” the New Zealand wing added.

“In order to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. Let’s go play England, let’s go over to the northern side of the world in their home and let’s give it a crack, let’s have some fun, let’s get out there. I want to play tomorrow.”

The 32-year-old became a household name at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, not just for her gold medal-winning performance with the women’s sevens team, but her colourful and honest interview, external with BBC Sport’s Jill Douglas that went viral.

Tui has now retired from sevens and committed to XVs and is aware of the potential that the 2025 World Cup in England has for the Red Roses and for rugby.

“It’s going to be epic,” she added. “I just hope we all take this opportunity with two hands.

“It was amazing what happened in New Zealand, but we’re taking it back to where rugby began so let’s do it, let’s put on an awesome show.”