“The experience he has for the dressing room is very important. All players have an important role. The younger ones due to their willingness to play and players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Rui Patricio and Bernardo Silva bring experience”
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Luxembourg on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo remains a “very important” player for Portugal, coach Roberto Martinez said on Sunday after the veteran striker scored a second successive brace in Euro 2024 qualifying against Luxembourg.
ADVERTISEMENT
Roberto Martinez
The 38-year-old opened the scoring for the Euro 2016 winners by turning in Nuno Mendes’ header and slotted home another in the 31st minute as Portugal won 6-0. Ronaldo, who also netted twice against Liechtenstein on Thursday, increased his records of most men’s international appearances and goals to 198 and 122 respectively. “Cristiano is a unique player in the world, with the highest number of international caps,” said Martinez, who has restored Ronaldo to the starting line-up after he was dropped during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Also read: Ronaldo in Portugal squad as new boss Martinez takes charge
“The experience he has for the dressing room is very important. All players have an important role. The younger ones due to their willingness to play and players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Rui Patricio and Bernardo Silva bring experience.”
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever