Cristiano Ronaldo’s commitment to international football, aged 39, is an example to his teammates, said Portugal boss Roberto Martinez after the superstar’s arrival in Scotland sparked excitement among fans.
Instead of training at Hampden Park, where Portugal faces Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday, the visitor used St Mirren’s ground in Paisley for its pre-match preparations.
That led to hundreds of people descending on the SMiSA Stadium, eager to get a glimpse of Ronaldo.
“When you arrive in a stadium, in a place like this, I think you get to know the iconic figure and the career of a player that is unique,” said Martinez at his pre-match press conference.
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“There is not another player with more than 200 caps at international level as an example, the number of goals that he’s scored, the trophies that he’s achieved.
“For me, it’s very easy to manage a player that can help the team to win tomorrow. All the rest is something for all of us to enjoy because it’s a unique case, and I think we can all learn from being close to him.”
Ronaldo was often criticised after failing to score as Portugal crashed out of Euro 2024 in the quarterfinals to France.
However, Martinez has continued to field the Al Nassr forward, who scored his 133rd international goal in Saturday’s 3-1 Nations League win over Poland in Warsaw.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star started that match, and Martinez assured his fans he would be involved against Scotland.
“I have no doubt that Cristiano, after 60 minutes (on Saturday) can be involved in the second game. I don’t know if he can start or if he can finish the game, but he can certainly be involved,” added Martinez.
Portugal has won all three of its games in Nations League Group A1, and three more points in Glasgow will edge it to the brink of securing qualification for March’s quarterfinals.
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