Cristiano Ronaldo had not been able to train fully ahead of Portugal's crunch World Cup qualifier in Andorra, explained Fernando Santos after the forward came off the bench to inspire a 2-0 win. Ronaldo, one booking away from being suspended for the concluding Group B game at home to leaders Switzerland on Tuesday, was surprisingly named among the substitutes for Saturday's qualifier. Portugal will host Switzerland in Lisbon in a shoot-out for Group B's sole automatic qualification spot, but Santos said Ronaldo's suspension situation was not the only reason for his absence. I thought, well, Ronaldo did not train 100 per cent in two of the days of work," Santos told RTP. Andorra goalkeeper Josep Gomes was mostly untested before Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute, with Santos blaming Andorra's synthetic pitch for his side's struggles.

Source: GhanaWeb October 07, 2017 21:56 UTC