Roberto Martinez new Portugal coach: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo remains an important player’

The first challenge for the 49-year-old coach, whose contractual duration has not yet been specified, will be to clarify the role of Cristiano Ronaldo who, after a controversial World Cup, has just offered himself a golden exile by joining the Saudi club Al -Nassr.

“My starting point will be the group of 26 players who have played in the World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them,” Martinez said at the press conference, cautiously adding that he will make his decisions “on the pitch” and “not in the field”. An office “.” Ronaldo is an important player in the team and he deserves the utmost respect. I’m not one to make hasty decisions. He obviously he is one of the players I would like to discuss with. He deserves this consideration. This will then be up to me to make the selection as competitive as possible.”

As we explained to you this morning, Zinédine Zidane was plan A of the Seleção, which seems to have quickly got back on its feet after the Frenchman’s rejection.

We recall that Roberto Martinez remained at the helm of the Diavoli for just over six years. In Portugal he succeeds Fernando Santos, in office since 2014, and will find Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, but also an emerging generation led by Fernandes and various young nuggets such as Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica), Joao Felix (Atlético), Rafael Leao (Milan) or also Vitinha (PSG).

Portugal is also coming out of a long period of stability after eight years under the leadership of Fernando Santos, who gave them the first important titles in its history: Euro-2016 and the first edition of the League of Nations in 2019.

When the 68-year-old coach announced his departure, five days after the Seleçao were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup against Morocco (1-0), the Portuguese press reported that the federation wanted to sign his compatriot José Mourinho, under contract with AS Roma.