A goalless second-round showing from poster boy Cristiano Ronaldo makes him the latest to fall short of the pre-tournament hype

Cristiano Ronaldo is bundled off the ball by Joan Capdevila as the Portugese star departs having scored just the one goal against North Korea.

The idea that Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney would have one goal between them by the time this World Cup reached the quarter-finals was not what the multi-million dollar advertisers had in mind. Only one goal from 15 matches collectively, and that from Ronaldo against North Korea, replete with a bumbling build-up as the ball bounced off the back of his head. The mind boggles.

The glitziest of the World Cup adverts featured a string of luxury poster boys who will not reflect warmly on the South Africa experience. In order of appearance, Nike's "Write the Future" showcased a rather different outcome than the flat realities of Didier Drogba's injury, Fabio Cannavaro's calamities, Rooney's burning discomfort, Franck Ribéry's role in the off-pitch mutiny and on-pitch misery, Ronaldinho's non-appearance, and Ronaldo's slimline goal return.

The tournament may not be as free-scoring as World Cups past, but as the games hot up the failure of the international game's most famous faces to find their rhythm becomes increasingly bewildering. The Jabulani ball is clearly not to everybody's taste – not that it seemed to bother Carlos Tevez the other night – but that alone is too facile an explanation.

For those players involved in high-class domestic leagues and a decent run in the Champions League, it must be a tremendous physical and mental strain to reach the natural climax of a club season, then have a couple of quiet weeks to let the adrenaline ease off, then crank up again with pre-tournament training and be expected to hit the World Cup running.

Such worries did not seem to trouble Spain two years ago at the European Championship, when they excelled and entertained in equal measure. But too much of this World Cup has been more like the Spain of old, much fancied only to flatter in bursts and falter in the end.

Torres blamed it all on that embarrassing trip against the Swiss. "The fact we needed to win our subsequent games, along with the anxiety that brings, stopped us playing the way we would have liked," he said. The relaxed manner of their win over 10-man Chile was supposed to have put the anxiety to bed.

Torres was clearly feeling the strain against opponents as well drilled as Portugal. He looked as if he had caught the English disease. A perfectly respectable Premier League season (22 goals in 32 games) was the prelude to a World Cup without impetus. Coming into the competition on the back of knee surgery, he does not look to have recovered anything like the power and potency that makes him such a terror for defenders. He did not even reach the hour mark. A show of strength and a swerving shot after 44 seconds was as good as it got.

Fortunately for Spain, in David Villa they have a striker with goal instincts that cannot be suppressed, and the new Barcelona man proved again that whatever is bothering so many other big names is not bothering him one iota. The delicacy of the approach play from Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández was delightful. Even in their blander games, Spain can serve up something delicious.

Villa's razor-sharp reactions, to flick the ball over Eduardo at the second attempt, once again delivered for Spain. His record of 42 goals from 62 caps is astounding. A Paraguay side who laboured to get past Japan are next up. It is not unrealistic for the European Champions to set their hearts on a semi-final against the winner of that enticing clash between Argentina and Germany.

Ronaldo looked suitably grim faced at the end. Portugal's conservative gameplan functioned well while the game was goalless, but served them no purpose when they were losing. There was no change of plan, no gamble, no framework to unleash something special from their captain.

Ronaldo is hardly renowned for his self-sacrifice, but the discipline required of Carlos Queiroz's Portugal does not lend itself to a free spirit – even if you are the most valuable player around right now. He has subordinated some of his natural instincts for the cause over this World Cup campaign, although he has not always looked thrilled about it. His frustrations have not been very thickly disguised.

His season was not supposed to be like this. Rewinding to the very start of it all, when his flag was unfurled over the Bernabéu and his price tag set him apart from everything around, he must have expected more. But football, clearly, is seldom written like it is in the swanky adverts.