Lisbon (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently nursing a hamstring injury, was on Friday left out of the Portugal squad to play pre-World Cup friendlies against tournament co-hosts Mexico and the United States later this month. The 41-year-old has not played for his Saudi club Al-Nassr since the end of February, but Portugal coach Roberto Martinez insisted that Ronaldo’s participation at what would be a record sixth World Cup was “not at risk.”
“It’s a minor injury,” Martinez said at a press conference, adding that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner could be back “within one or two weeks.” “Everything Cristiano has done physically during this season shows that he’s going through an excellent spell and that there are no physical problems. At the World Cup, the centre-forward position will be for Cristiano Ronaldo and Goncalo Ramos. We are looking for a third striker with a different profile.”
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Portugal will face Mexico on Saturday, March 28, in Mexico City, and the United States three days later in Atlanta. “This is the last chance to experiment, because it’s the final training camp before the World Cup squad is named,” said Martinez.
At the World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, Portugal have been drawn in Group K with Colombia and Uzbekistan. The other team in this group will come from a play-off that could see New Caledonia, Jamaica, or the Democratic Republic of Congo qualify.
**Squad:**
**Goalkeepers:** Diogo Costa (FC Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton Wanderers/ENG), Rui Silva (Sporting)
**Defenders:** Matheus Nunes (Manchester City/ENG), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United/ENG), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona/ESP), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Renato Veiga (Villarreal/ESP), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Tomas Araujo (Benfica)
**Midfielders:** Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal/KSA), Samu Costa (Mallorca/ESP), Mateus Fernandes (West Ham/ESP), Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/ENG), Rodrigo Mora (Porto)
**Forwards:** Ricardo Horta (Braga), Pedro Goncalves (Sporting), Joao Felix (Al Nassr/KSA), Francisco Trincao (Sporting), Francisco Conceicao (Juventus/ITA), Rafael Leao (AC Milan/ITA), Pedro Neto (Chelsea/ENG), Goncalo Guedes (Real Sociedad/ESP), Goncalo Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)
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