With Ronaldo looking at the peak of his game, Portugal trained for the first time in Russian Federation on Thursday ahead of its Confederations Cup debut against Mexico on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Real Madrid striker, who is in Russian Federation as Portugal prepare for their Confederations Cup opener against Mexico, is said to be "outraged" after prosecutors accused him of defrauding the authorities of 14.7million euros (£12.8million). Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and Eder were in the squad when Portugal won the European championship a year ago, with Eder scoring the extra-time victor in the final against host France, but none made it to Fernando Santos' squad for the Confederations Cup, the World Cup warm-up event.
Mexico's Javier Hernandez celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Confederations Cup, Group A soccer match between Portugal and Mexico, at the Kazan Arena, Russia, Sunday, June 18, 2017.
Within 15 minutes Portugal had taken the lead, however, with Ronaldo, who has now scored or provided an assist in each of his last seven games for the national team, nearly inevitably at the heart of it.
Portugal has won six of its last seven games, with the only setback coming in a 3-2 loss against Sweden in a friendly in March. A report by a Portuguese newspaper two days before Sunday's game said that the Madrid forward had made the "irreversible" decision to leave the Spanish club because he was upset with the allegations. We've prepared thoroughly and we just have to expect that the players play properly and execute the game plan.
Host Russia, ranked 63rd in the world, opens Group A play on Saturday against New Zealand in St. Petersburg. Portugal had a first-half goal by Nani disallowed after a video review, when the game was still scoreless. "But yes, their transitions are very unsafe, like any team that plays with that system".
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Super Stat: Portugal and hosts Russian Federation are making their Confederations Cup debut this year!
"[These are] two quality national teams, and our opener is against Portugal, which is without doubt one of the favorites for the title", said Mexico defender Miguel Layun, who plays his club football in Portugal, on Thursday.
Ronaldo's backheel then saw Quaresma fire narrowly wide but another defensive error allowed Mexico to draw level three minutes before the break. "We want to show that we are able to win more tournaments".
Soares scored late with a right-foot shot from inside the area after Mexico midfielder Hector Herrera gave the ball away, and Moreno's equalizer came with a firm header from close range after a corner kick one minute into injury time.
In addition to being an idol, Ronaldo also serves as a mentor for the talented young forward.
When Ronaldo's volley thumped the crossbar, Nani pounced on the rebound, but the video ref spotted that four players were offside.
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