If only the Chinese journalist who inveigled herself into Portugal's Cape Town base last weekend had invested as much effort into her research. Cristiano Ronaldo successfully cornered, the question presented him with an open goal.
"Lionel Messi has scored for Argentina, when you score for Portugal?" Ronaldo looked down dismissively. "Messi scored at the World Cup?" he replied. "When? Where? And don't worry, I will score soon."
Some 24 hours later, Portugal's premier player proved as good as word. Deep into the second half of an impressively comprehensive 7-0 defeat of North Korea, Liedson pushed the ball past a beleaguered opponent and chased it into the area. Ronaldo beat him to it, riding the challenge of an onrushing goalkeeper as the ball flipped up and bounced off his back.
Retaining balance and wits, he waited for the Jabulani ball to drop and then touched into an empty net. Sixteen barren months had ended. After watching gloriously inventive strikes bounce off post and bar in his quest for a World Cup finish, an almost comedic finish had relieved the pressure.
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As Wayne Rooney is learning to blaspheming cost, football has limited tolerance for off-colour superstars. The quizzing of Ronaldo has been crueller than an inaccurate comparison with Messi. Garnering ammunition from a stuttering qualifying campaign, senior commentators in the Portuguese media have questioned his ability to captain O Seleccao, suggesting Ronaldo puts more effort into his appearances for Real Madrid than the national team.
With the same journalists predicting an early exit from the World Cup's hardest section, a piqued Ronaldo responded angrily when asked what he could promise the Portuguese nation in South Africa. "What can I promise?", he replied. "I don't make promises to my family. How can I promise these people something?"
Under similarly intense criticism for stumbling into the World Cup rather than striding there, Carlos Queiroz borrowed a refrain from a favoured rock band to defend the 25-year-old. "Like the Pink Floyd song says: 'Leave the kid alone'," said Portugal's coach. Out on the wings, Ronaldo's new club manager attempted to relieve some pressure from the player in a manner that underwrote a distaste for Queiroz. "Portugal cannot win the World Cup," declared Jose Mourinho. "Not even if they had Ronaldo at 1,000%".
Three questionable man-of-the-match awards not withstanding (Ronaldo redirected the second fan vote to team-mate Tiago, Brazil captain Lucio described the third as "shameful"), the Real Madrid forward has still to reach 100%. Yet there are hints that this Portugal team could survive deep into an unpredictable tournament.
Ronaldo's desire to break his goal drought against North Korea invoked no selfishness in him. Though he commandeered the centre-forward beat of Hugo Almeida after Portugal went 3-0 ahead there was no wilful selection of self-serving option. Twice finding himself in position where an attempt on goal would have been justified, Ronaldo chose the percentage pass to a team-mate, teeing up Tiago's fourth and a Raul Meireles near-thing.
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The smiles of the group embrace that greeted Ronaldo's eventual finish captured a collective sense of relief. "We're pleased for him," said Pedro Mendes, Portugal's astute holding midfielder. "He's been looking for a goal for a long time. There is criticism all over the place in all the countries. People are happy, people are unhappy, people choose different ways. You have it everywhere. But the main thing is us, the group, the team. We are a really, really good bunch of players and lads. United we may do it."
Prime exponents of the short-passing game, Portugal's skills are suited to a World Cup match ball that flies unpredictably over distance and they've worked on the best way to handle it. "Even the long pass can't be a really high ball, it should be more like a 'tennis pass' with more intensity," says Mendes.
Though their goals came in a glut, Portugal ended the group stages as the World Cup's highest scorers alongside Argentina, with only Uruguay matching their record of three clean sheets. The team now stands unbeaten in 19 matches stretching back to September 2008, a period in which they've conceded a miserly three times.
Braga goalkeeper Eduardo is a more rounded performer than his predecessor Ricardo, while in a fit-again Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Alves, the Portuguese have a centre-back combination that combines pace, power and carefully timed, subtly masked cynicism. While on the left flank, Fabio Coentrao is rapidly establishing himself as one of best attacking full-backs around.
Needing only a draw against Brazil to progress to the round of 16, Queiroz employed conservative tactics, isolating Ronaldo in attack and leaving a feeling within his camp that stalemate could have been turned into victory with more adventure. "It was a balanced game," said Ronaldo. "Portugal created chances, Brazil not so many. We are showing people that this World Cup will be difficult. We weren't playing Estrela Amadora, we played against one of the best teams in the world, and for this I think it was a good result. It shows we can face any team and that from now on anything can happen."
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Encouragingly, there is little fear of facing the tournament's other principal favourites in Tuesday's round of 16 tie. Expected to win when the pair last met competitively, Spain ended up on a bus to Lisbon airport.
"It's a special match, a bit like an England-Scotland game," says Carvalho. "Last time we played them we beat them. It was Euro 2004 and they went home, so maybe they want their revenge. Of course Spain is strong, but you never know. Sometimes against big, big teams and big players you are more focused on that game and your performance is much better than against small teams. I prefer to play against good players than bad players."