Cristiano Ronaldo left out of Portugal call-up list

Cristiano Ronaldo, out with injury since February, is not part of the squad announced Friday by Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who will count on Real Sociedad’s Gonçalo Guedes, Mallorca midfielder Samu Costa and Villarreal defender Renato Veiga for the friendlies against Mexico and the United States.

At a press conference held at the Cidade do Futebol, located in Oeiras (Lisbon metropolitan area), Martinez announced the 27 called-up players “plus one”, in reference to the late Diogo Costa.

Portugal unveils its squad without Cristiano

Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto, POR), Rui Silva (Sporting de Portugal, POR), José Sá (Wolverhampton, ING).

Defenders: Matheus Nunes (Manchester City, ING), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United, ING), João Cancelo (FC Barcelona, ESP), Nuno Mendes (PSG, FRA), Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting, POR), Tomás Araújo (Benfica, POR), António Silva (Benfica, POR), Renato Veiga (Villarreal, ESP).

Midfielders: João Neves (PSG, FRA), Rúben Neves (Al Hilal, KSA), Samú Costa (Mallorca, ESP), Vitinha (PSG, FRA), Bruno Fernandes (Man. United, ING), Rodrigo Mora (Porto, POR), Mateus Fernandes (West Ham, ING).

Forwards: Ricardo Horta (Braga, POR), Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting, POR), João Félix (Al Nassr, KSA), Francisco Trincão (Sporting, POR), Francisco Conceição (Juventus, ITA), Pedro Neto (Chelsea, ING), Rafael Leão (AC Milan, ITA), Gonçalo Guedes (Real Sociedad, ESP) and Gonçalo Ramos (PSG, FRA).

Mexican fans without Ronaldo and Messi at the Azteca

The announcement that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of Portugal’s squad to face Mexico on March 28 at the Azteca Stadium closed a week of disappointment for Mexican fans.

Sad because Lionel Messi will not play next April in the capital, as expected.

With a hamstring injury, Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of Portugal’s squad for the friendly against the Mexicans.

It will serve to open the Azteca after remodeling for the World Cup.

Fans in Mexico City and some in the interior of the country, who were looking forward to seeing the Al-Nassr striker from Saudi Arabia play, woke up this Friday disappointed because the striker will not be coming to Mexico.

And they will miss out on what may be one last chance to see him play in the country.

The news came on top of the elimination two days ago of Messi’s Inter Miami team in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

This will frustrate the possibility of seeing him play against America in the quarterfinals of the competition.

Bitter week in Mexico: without Messi, without Iran and with World Cup surprises

Inter, one of the tournament favorites, was eliminated by Nashville SC, who will be America’s opponent for a place in the semifinals.

Had Miami qualified for the quarterfinals, Messi would have been at the Azteca against the Águilas in April, in the Copa’s best eight phase.

This week FIFA also announced that Iran will not play the World Cup on Mexican soil as had been speculated.

After the Iranians requested a change of venue for their World Cup matches, scheduled for the United States, due to security concerns.

FIFA refused to modify the schedule, which will keep Iraq in the United States and Mexico with 13 World Cup matches in the capital, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

This month, Mexico will host two World Cup fishing series.

Next March 26, in Guadalajara, New Caledonia will face Jamaica and the winner will seek a place in the World Cup on March 31 against Congo.

In Monterrey, Bolivia-Suriname will face each other on the 26th and the best team will challenge Iraq on the 31st for a ticket to the World Cup.

With information from EFE

For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com