Cristiano Ronaldo is “always happy” when playing for Portugal and his problems at Manchester United will not damage the country’s prospects at the World Cup, international teammate Joao Mario said on Tuesday.

The superstar forward blasted United in an explosive TV interview days before the start of the tournament in Qatar, saying he felt “betrayed” by the club and does not respect manager Erik ten Hag.

Ronaldo, 37, is now preparing to lead Portugal at a World Cup for what is almost certain to be the final time.

“He’s always happy when he is in the national team,” Benfica midfielder Joao Mario told reporters after the squad trained in Lisbon.

“I saw him yesterday and he was quite fine as always. As he has said before, for him it is always a pleasure to be here. He’s totally focused on the national team.

“I don’t see a problem with the timing (of the interview) because everyone always speaks about Cristiano, so it’s fine for us.”

Ronaldo aired his grievances in an interview with British channel TalkTV.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been a peripheral figure for United this season under new manager Ten Hag.

More details here...

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.