Al Nassr forward Christiano Ronaldo will not feature in Portugal’s Nations League match against Croatia tonight at Poljud Stadium in Split.

The Portuguese attacker was together with a number of teammates sent home early from training camp to give space for the younger faces in the squad to see minutes on the pitch.

“In the first phase we made six changes from one game to the next“, Martínez argued, “it is important that we are the first, and we already are. We have to be competitive to add to the group, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get into the starting eleven. There will be a World Cup final in 18 months.

Four players left the Portuguese camp early

“The match against Croatia is important, we have to look at other players. We are going to release Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes, who are suspended. We’re going to call Fábio Silva and Quenda for the under 21s.”

Despite his age (39) and doubts surrounding his performance at Euro 2024, Ronaldo is in impressive form this year for club and countryand scored twice in Portugal’s recent victory over Poland, taking his own total for the season up to 15 goals.

However, seen as Portugal has already qualified as group leader and Croatia are ready (as they are head-to-head matches and no goal difference), Martínez saw rest as the preferred option for certain players in the squad. Luka Modric is still part of the Croatia squad and is expected to play.

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