It's time for the first international break of the season. If France is preparing to challenge Italy and Belgium, Portugal is also prepared to play two matches. Portuguese coach Roberto Martinez called up a list of 25 players that combines experience and youth, with Diogo Costa (Porto, Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton), Rui Silva (Betis, Sevilla). In defense: Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Renato Vega (Chelsea), Gonzalo Inacio (Sporting Portugal), Thiago Santos (Lille), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), Nelson Semedo. (Wolverhampton) form the defensive line. Joao Palinha (Bayern), Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal) camp in the middle, while the attacking lines consist of Joao Felix (Chelsea), Francisco Trincao (Sporting Portugal), Pedro Goncalves (Sporting Portugal), Rafael Leao (Milan), Giovanni Cuenda (Sporting Portugal), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr), Diogo Jota. (Liverpool).
A very beautiful list in which the legend Cristiano Ronaldo still appears at the age of 39. Portugal's squad met on Monday to begin its preparations for the first two matches of the new UEFA Nations League season. Roberto Martinez's players will host Croatia and Scotland in their first meeting since the 2024 European Championship, during which Portugal was eliminated in the quarter-finals by France. After finishing the final stage of the European Championship without scoring a single goal in five matches he played, Cristiano Ronaldo received a lot of criticism. Despite some critics, CR7 considers these criticisms “great“, because “Without criticism there is no development” According to his philosophy. But Ronaldo, 39, is logically closer to the end than the beginning of his career. This is a situation he is fully aware of, but it does not frighten him more than that.
CR7 doesn't put any pressure on itself!
While he had a brilliant season with Al-Nasr, his return to a major European competition was more complicated for the former Real Madrid player. At the end of the Euro, the debate about the necessity of his retirement in order to develop the young and talented Portuguese generation ignited social networks and the media: “What I feel is that at the moment I am still an asset to the team. When I feel worthless, I will be the first to leave and I will go with a clear conscience, as always. I know who I am, what I do, and what I will continue to do. I will always, until the end of my career, believe I will be a starter. I've always respected the decisions of selectors and coaches… not always, but that's because they also behaved badly towards me. When there is professional ethics, I will always respect coaches», CR7 confirmed on Monday in a press conference.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 39 years old, spoke about the possibility of reaching the thousandth goal in his career, even if the Portuguese “star” stressed that goals are no longer a concern: “And when that time comes, sooner or later, I will be the first to take that step forward. This will be a very personal decision for me and not very difficult to make. It would be a natural decision, as other players have done, like Pepe, who had an excellent career, who is an example for us all and who left through the front door. This is how we can see things, walk out the front door with joy and not sadness. In recent years, what drives me is the joy I still feel in training and competing. For me, this is the most important thing. Sometimes you'll score, sometimes you won't, that's part of life“, he announced after this press conference. At the start of the fourth edition of the European Nations League, the Portuguese national team will host the Croatia national team, on Thursday, at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, and will also face Scotland three days later at the same stadium. The national team belongs to the first group, which It also includes Poland, as well as Croats and Scots.
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