Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has again been left out of the squad for this month's matches against Poland and Scotland, announced by the Portuguese federation on Thursday.
Ronaldo, Portugal's record scorer and most-capped player, also missed Portugal's two games in September a friendly against Croatia and a Nations League match against Italy at his own request.
The 33-year-old five-times world player of the year said he needed more time to adapt following his move from Real Madrid to Juventus, coach Fernando Santos said at the time.
"He (Ronaldo) already said very clearly in several occasions that he is available for the national team so in the future nothing indicates that the opposite can happen," said the Portuguese coach on Thursday.
He added that "it was already announced, there was a conversation between the player, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation and the national coach in which we agreed that the player would not be available, he would not be available for these two next squad announcements, the one today and the next one."
Santos declined to reveal any details behind the decision. "Details no, I would not talk about a conversation between me the president and the player, I would never give details of a conversation, these conversations are internal and only belong to me, to the president and the player."
"I understand, I understand your questions very well, obviously it's a media case. I understand all of this, but you have to understand that I will not speak in public of what I spoke with my player, with my friend Cristiano Ronaldo," said Fernando Santos.
Portugal visit Poland for a Nations League match on October 11 and then travel to Scotland for a friendly three days later.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, Reuters