CR7 will not travel with Portugal for their fourth Nations League clash.
Fernando Santos has confirmed he excluded Cristiano Ronaldo from his squad for Portugal’s upcoming match against Switzerland.
Ronaldo scored a brace for Portugal when they crushed Switzerland 4-0 last weekend. However, he won’t play against the Swiss in the return fixture.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Sunday’s match, Santos confirmed Ronaldo, Raphael Guerero, and Joao Moutinho won’t travel with the team.
“There are no physical problems,” Santos told reporters. “It is normal management.
“It wouldn’t make sense to have 26 players travelling if we can only play 23, It fell to these players to miss out, that’s all.”
Most of the teams playing in the UEFA Nations League have adapted to the tournament’s tight schedule by rotating players.
However, there has been criticism toward UEFA for their calendar ahead of the World Cup.
“Four matches are too many after such a season,” Germany manager Hansi Flick said on Friday.
“You have to take the two years into account.
“We had a pandemic and a lot of matches piled up. We will be having ‘English weeks’ [two-match weeks]
“There will be almost no pre-season preparation then it’s Bundesliga and Champions League matches every three, four days until the World Cup.
“This should be looked at, and we need to ask ourselves how we can offer players a break because that is important.
“UEFA or FIFA should look into these things and take some measures.“
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