Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the
Portugal squad after an eight-and-a-half-month absence.
Ronaldo
has not, at his own request, played for the defending European champions since
a 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the last 16 of the World Cup on June 30, 2018.
Portugal
coach Fernando Santos’ side face a Euro 2020 Group B qualifier against Ukraine
on March 22 before they play Serbia three days later, with both matches being
staged at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz.
Ronaldo
moved to Juventus last summer from Real Madrid in a €100m transfer and has
scored 24 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions, including a hat-trick in
Wednesday’s 3-0 home triumph over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League
“Cristiano Ronaldo is the best
player in the world and he is returning to the national team,” Santos said in
Friday’s news conference.
“Any
team would be stronger with Ronaldo. He already spoke this week about his
absence from the national team [to adapt to his life in Turin and to new club
Juventus]. The team will be stronger with Ronaldo
Portugal,
without Ronaldo, won three and drew three of their six games since the World
Cup. They finished top of their group to reach the UEFA Nations League finals,
a tournament the country will host in June.
Comments
Post a Comment