Portugal faces a winner-take-all game on
Tuesday against North Macedonia, the team that shocked Italy last week to keep
the four-time champions out of the World Cup for the second straight time.
“We were surprised,” Ronaldo told SportTV
on Monday. “North Macedonia has surprised in many matches. But I don’t think
they will surprise us tomorrow. Portugal will play better and we will make it
to the World Cup.”
Portugal is trying to reach its sixth
straight World Cup, and Ronaldo is hoping to play in his 10th consecutive major
tournament after appearing in four World Cups and five European Championships
since 2004.
“We know that if we win we will go to the
World Cup and if we lose we are out,” he said. “We have the responsibility to
be positive and win the match. I see everyone well prepared and wanting to be
at their best tomorrow.”
Ronaldo is the only player to have scored
at least once in the finals of nine top tournaments in a row.
The highest scorer in men’s international soccer,
Ronaldo would be 41 by the time of the next World Cup if Portugal doesn’t
qualify to play this year in Qatar.
The Manchester United forward didn’t want
to talk about the possibility of a World Cup without him.
“There is no World Cup without Portugal,”
Ronaldo said. “There are no individualities here.”
Ronaldo said he is starting to hear
repeated questions about his future and made it clear he is the only one who
can make a decision on that.
“If I feel like playing, I will keep
playing,” he said. “If I don’t, I won’t.”
Portugal advanced to the game against North
Macedonia by beating Turkey 3-1 in Porto on Thursday, when the visitors
squandered an 85th-minute penalty kick that could have erased a two-goal lead
from the first half. The Portuguese added their third goal in injury time.
Portugal had been forced into the playoffs
after conceding late and relinquishing a lead last year in the final group game
against Serbia.
North Macedonia, which gained independence
from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, is trying to make it to the World Cup final
for the first time. It made its first appearance in the European Championship
last year.
“We are halfway to the World Cup, but we
still have another 90 minutes to play and secure qualification,” North
Macedonia midfielder Tihomir Kostadinov said. “We are ready to do our best and
repeat our performance (against Italy) in Palermo.”
Aleksandar Trajkovski’s surprising winner
against Italy on Thursday came in the second minute of stoppage time in
Palermo. North Macedonia had also won at Germany a year ago in its European
qualifying group, in which it finished second to the Germans and ahead of
Romania.
“We can’t go into the game thinking North
Macedonia is the weaker team,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “We have to
prepare to face North Macedonia the same way we would prepare if we had to face
Italy”
Santos will have a more complete squad for
the match at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto as defenders Pepe and João Cancelo
are back after missing the game against Turkey. Pepe had tested positive for COVID-19,
while Cancelo was suspended.