Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ronaldo to travel to Azerbaijan

Portugal captain Cristiano
Ronaldo is travelling to Azerbaijan
with the rest of the squad for
Tuesday's World Cup qualifier
even though he is suspended for
the game.
Real Madrid attacker Ronaldo
played all 90 minutes of
Portugal's dramatic 3-3 draw in
Israel on Friday, when he laid on
his side's second goal for Helder
Postiga, but also picked up a
second yellow card of the
qualifiers, ruling him out of the
game in Baku.
This opened up the possibility of
an early return to Madrid to
prepare for Saturday's upcoming
La Liga game at Real Zaragoza and
then Champions League quarter-
final first leg against Galatasaray
at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
on April 3, but Ronaldo says he is
remaining with his national squad
to support his team-mates from
the sidelines.
"I am here in body and soul," he
told the Portuguese FA's website.
"On Tuesday I will support my
teammates so that we can play a
good game and win. I feel
unhappy about not being able to
help them out on the pitch, but I
will do it from the sidelines."
Portugal are currently third in
Group F, level on points with
second-placed Israel, but four
behind leaders Russia, who have
played a game less.
Ronaldo said that missing the
game was frustrating, but he had
decided against returning early to
club matters.
"In the last game I picked up a
yellow card which left me pretty
unhappy," he said. "I believe my
presence here is important. The
easiest thing would have been to
return to my club, but I said I
wanted to stay. I like being here
and I believe my contribution,
even without playing, is
important for the national team
and my team-mates and friends."

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