Roberto Martinez believes Cristiano Ronaldo’s participation in the Saudi Pro League will give Portugal an ‘advantage’ in competitions. Ronaldo decided to ditch European football for the riches of Saudi Arabia in December after having his Manchester United contract torn up.
Martinez hailed the 38-year-old’s commitment to football as ‘complete’ and labelled Ronaldo as an ‘example’ to the locker room. ‘Playing in a non-European club is sometimes an advantage when playing in the national team’ he told reporters.
The superstar has since enjoyed his time playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi top-flight, and has maintained his status as Portugal’s national team captain. Ronaldo returned from the Middle East to link up with his Portugal colleagues ahead of European Championship qualifying games against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iceland.
‘We have three ways of analysing a player: individual quality, experience and commitment. Cristiano’s commitment is complete.‘He is an example for the locker room, an example for Portuguese and world football. He has played 198 matches for the national team.
Martinez has got his Portugal tenure off to an unbeaten start having lost his position as Belgium’s head coach following an uninspiring Qatar World Cup campaign.
‘Cristiano and [veteran FC Porto defender]Pepe are examples of Portuguese football, and we need them to pass all the experience and wisdom to the youngest players. ‘Like any other player, he [Ronaldo] needs to train well in order to play. We need a high-performance environment with competition for our players,’ he added.
