The Portuguese Football Association issued a statement denying media reports regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s threat to leave the national team camp during the World Cup, after coach Fernando Santos decided not to start him against Switzerland, in the round of sixteen of the World Cup.
Sharjah 24 – Archyde.com:
The Portuguese Football Association denied media reports regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s threat to leave the national team camp during the World Cup, after coach Fernando Santos decided not to start him against Switzerland, in the round of sixteen.
Ronaldo, the player who participated in the most international matches with Portugal and its historic scorer, sat on the bench, on Tuesday, during the 6-1 victory against Switzerland, and his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored three goals, before Ronaldo participated in the last minutes.
“The Portuguese Football Federation makes it clear that Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of the national team, never threatened to leave the national team, the level of commitment of the most capped international player in Portugal’s history was demonstrated once again… in the victory against Switzerland,” the FFP said in a statement.
Ronaldo has struggled to score since he scored a penalty kick in Portugal’s first match in the 2022 World Cup, against Ghana, to be the first player to score in five World Cup tournaments.
The 37-year-old reiterated his commitment to the national team on social media, hours after the Portuguese federation’s statement.
Ronaldo wrote on Twitter, “The group is so united that it cannot be broken by external forces, a nation so brave that it is not afraid of any opponent, a team in the full sense of the word, and it will fight for the dream until the end, dream with us.”
Portugal plays in the quarter-finals against Morocco on Saturday, and midfielder Ottavio said that preparation for the match was going as usual, adding that there was no problem even if Ronaldo was upset not to start against Switzerland.
“I think everything is very normal,” the 27-year-old said. “There was no problem at all. There was no talk of him leaving. Nobody gets bitter when he doesn’t play. It’s completely normal. I think that’s it. We’re still.” United and very focused.”
He added, “If you look at the pictures or the video, you can see that Cristiano’s heart and soul are with the national team, regardless of whether he is on the bench or not.”