Cristiano Ronaldo‘s form this season has not underwhelming with only three goals scored in all competitions, two of which came against Sheriff Tiraspol.
He failed to score in Portugal’s UEFA Nations League games too, and this has not been the ideal preparation for him ahead of the World Cup.
Portugal manager Fernando Santos has continued to back Ronaldo, but admits he was worried when Erik ten Hag axed him from the squad against Chelsea last month.
Santos says he is relieved Ronaldo has come back into the fold at Manchester United – irrespective of his form.
Portugal boss says he was ‘worried’
Santos told newspaper O Jogo: “There was a moment with Cristiano when I was worried, when you heard that he weren’t going to train with the team, that’s what.
“If I was training alone it would be very difficult.”
Ronaldo is Portugal’s record goalscorer by more than 70 goals, and is the highest international scorer of all time.
He ended Euro 2020 as top scorer at the tournament and will hope to pull another series of big performances out the bag in Qatar.
His preparation has hardly been ideal though, from a summer which began with Ronaldo missing pre-season training, to struggling to find his place in United’s starting line-up.
When he was axed from the squad against Chelsea after storming down the tunnel before full-time against Tottenham, there had been questions over whether he would even play before the World Cup.
This clearly would have been problematic for Portugal’s preparations for the tournament – but Ronaldo’s form since has hardly been ideal.
He has scored just once in the four starts he has had at United and missed key chances. Ronaldo needs to rediscover his ruthless edge, and it’s fair to assume Santos may be more worried than he is letting on.
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