Ronaldo searching for first World Cup title
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Portugal into the World Cup after Fernando Santos named the veteran forward in his 26-man squad on Thursday.
The Manchester United striker, 37, has not been first choice for his club this season but will be part of his country's bid to win the tournament for the first time in their history.
Ronaldo, the captain and all-time leading scorer in men's international football with 117 goals, has plenty of younger team-mates in support in attack, including Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix and AC Milan's Rafael Leao.
"All the players I have called up come with the hunger to win and make Portugal world champions, Ronaldo included," said Santos.
Ronaldo will go to his fifth World Cup, having played for his country in every edition of the tournament from 2006 onwards.
The coach, who led Portugal to Euro 2016 glory in France, left Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Renato Sanches out of the squad, bringing Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes instead.
"What is most important are the players who will go to the World Cup," said Santos, refusing to discuss players who didn't make the cut.
"The 26 (selected) think that justice has been done, and those who don't go, the opposite."
Santos called up uncapped Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva, 19, as well as 39-year-old Pepe.
The Porto defender has not played since October 4 because of a knee sprain but will be fit for the tournament in Qatar, which starts on November 20.
"I asked my medical department if there were any unfit players, the answer was no," said Santos when asked about Pepe.
Liverpool striker Diogo Jota misses out because of a calf injury.
Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho, 36, who has appeared for his country 146 times, more than any other player apart from Ronaldo, was not included, and nor was his team-mate Goncalo Guedes.
Portugal open their World Cup campaign in Group H against Ghana on November 24, before facing Uruguay on November 28 and South Korea on December 2.
Santos was critical of the timing of the tournament, the first ever winter World Cup, but was happy about the lack of travel involved at the tournament, with all the stadiums relatively close together.
"It's not good for clubs, it's not good for anyone," said Santos.
"The exception is that it's good for travel. I've participated in several World Cups and travelling between games was difficult.
"In this aspect, there's an advantage. No stadium is more than 25 minutes away. We don't have to walk around carrying everything. It won't wear us down, the game ends and we go back to the hotel."
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), Rui Patricio (Roma/ITA), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton/ENG)
Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United/ENG), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City/ENG), Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Pepe (Porto), Ruben Dias (Manchester City/ENG), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund/GER)
Midfielders: Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton/ENG), Joao Palhinha (Fulham/ENG), William Carvalho (Real Betis/ESP), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/ENG), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Otavio (Porto), Joao Mario (Benfica), Matheus Nunes (Wolverhampton/ENG), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City/ENG)
Forwards: Rafael Leao (AC Milan/ITA), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Ricardo Horta (Braga), Goncalo Ramos (Benfica), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/ENG), Andre Silva (RB Leipzig/GER).
(责任编辑:行业动态)
- Why Kamala Harris triggers Donald Trump so intensely.
- Apple unveils Beats Solo Pro with noise cancellation and 22 hours of battery
- North Korea fires 2 missiles into East Sea in latest show of force
- Gmail Go is now available to all Android users
- Apple iPod: The First 10 Years of the Ubiquitous Media Player
- Deceased K
- Trump tweets joke story about Twitter shutting down for Biden, talks about it as if it's real
- Rapper NO:EL arrested over allegedly assaulting police officer, refusing breathalyzer
- Elizabeth Smart kidnapper to be released early, parole board rules
- 12 Sculptures Made From Recycled Materials
- S. Korea, US to craft 'tailored' responses to potential nuclear crises: defense chief
- 11 gifts to get kids interested in STEM
- Dyson's V11 Torque Drive is 20 percent more powerful than Cyclone V10
-
本报讯8月23日,中国劳动关系学院劳动关系与人力资源学院副院长张才明一行赴雅考察职工思想政治引领数智化发展工作开展情况。中国劳动关系学院为中华全国总工会和教育部联合共建,是全国总工会唯一一所普通高等院 ...[详细]
-
N. Korea will only be more isolated if it continues provocation: Blinken
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures during a press conference with Chilean Foreign Minis ...[详细] -
N. Korea draws up guidelines for emergency health crisis, natural disasters
A plenary session of the standing committee of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly takes place a ...[详细] -
Iheanacho overshadows Salah, Mahrez at AFCON
YAOUNDE:Kelechi Iheanacho overshadowed fellow Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez on ...[详细] -
Hannah Gais ,July 16, 2024 To Russia, with ...[详细]
-
Rapper NO:EL arrested over allegedly assaulting police officer, refusing breathalyzer
This Sept. 30, 2021, file photo shows rapper NO:EL, whose legal name is Chang Yong-jun, entering Seo ...[详细] -
Norton Secure VPN will help secure your connection
If you purchase something through MashStash, Mashable will earn an affiliate commission.There was a ...[详细] -
If you own an iPhone 5, you'd better update your iOS right now
Apple wants you to know that if you're still using an iPhone 5, you really, really need to hurry up ...[详细] -
Doosan scraps controversial Robotics
(Doosan Group)Doosan Group has officially scrapped its merger plan between Doosan Robotics and Doosa ...[详细] -
Women are thanking Chrissy Teigen for sharing her heartbreaking pregnancy journey
Chrissy Teigen shared the heartbreaking news on social media that she lost her third child she was e ...[详细]
- Apple's iPhone 17 will come with a huge RAM upgrade, report claims
- My birthday in North Korea (part 1)
- John Kerry: Trump has “the maturity of an eight
- Facebook bans QAnon...but can it keep up with the conspiracy theory?
- PS5 Pro: It looks like a sketch of the design just leaked
- [INTERVIEW] 'Inter
- Apple's iPhone SE 2 will come in March, analyst claims