Euro 2016

[monks data]

International Friendlies

Jun 2, 2016 at 7.45pm UK

England
1-0
Portugal

Smalling (86')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Fernando Santos: 'Portugal not a one-man team'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 01 June 2016

Portugal manager Fernando Santos insists that his side are not solely reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo, who will miss their friendly against England at Wembley.

Portugal manager Fernando Santos has insisted that his side are not solely reliant on star striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 31-year-old is the national team's captain and record goalscorer, and is now only two appearances behind Luis Figo's record tally of 127 games for his country.

However, Ronaldo's involvement in the Champions League final with Real Madrid means that he will miss Portugal's friendly against England on Thursday, and Santos is keen to see how his side cope without their talisman.

"All my players are important. Portugal is not a one-man team. I want to test my whole squad. When they booked this match we didn't know he would be playing in the Champions League final," he told reporters.

"Ronaldo said he played 4,000 minutes this season, but all my players were tired and they have to rest physically and mentally. I'm not worried about this because we are having good preparation.

"Of course he's very important like he would be for any other team in world, but [Thursday] is a good opportunity to play without him. I hope he will play seven games in France but we need to know how to play without him."

Ronaldo was also absent when Portugal beat Norway 3-0 in their opening warm-up game for Euro 2016.