World Cup 2022: Portugal coach Fernando Santos unsure of starting Ronaldo against South Korea

Published on: 02 December 2022
World Cup 2022: Portugal coach Fernando Santos unsure of starting Ronaldo against South Korea
Portugal's coach Fernando Santos leads a training session at the Al Shahania SC in Al Samriya, northwest of Doha on November 30, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

The head coach of Portugal, Fernando Santos has indicated that he is yet to decide whether to start Cristiano Ronaldo in the game against South Korea or not.

Speaking in a pre-match press conference, the Portuguese tactician said, "We'll see. In principle, Ronaldo will train soon. If he's fit... I don't even know if it's 50/50 [the probability of being fit for the game]. If he trains normally..."

According to him, his side has planned for South Korea and knows how to beat the Group H opponent.

"What we planned was to build a team with slightly different principles. We are not going to be a counter attack team. It is a very dangerous opponent. South Korea put five, six men in the area.

“Portugal you have to have the ball, you have to remove Korea from the game, if we don't circulate quickly... we put ourselves in a complicated situation. Koreans are very strong in pressing. The best way is to take the ball away from the opponent,” Coach Fernando Santos said.

The match between Portugal and South Korea kicks off at 15:00GMT on Friday afternoon.

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