Newly-appointed Portugal coach Roberto Martinez confirms plans for Ronaldo's future

Spanish football coach Roberto Martinez spoke about his plans for five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristia Ronaldo, after being appointed as he coach of Portugal national football team on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Martinez insisted that 37-year-old deserves respect while confirming that footballer remains to be a part of his plans for future. This comes after Ronaldo endured a frustrating World Cup, which saw him being benched from starting lineup in kckout st.

Ronaldo didn’t feature in Portuguese starting lineup during 6-1 win against Switzerland in Round of 16. While his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick, youngster was yet again selected over Ronaldo during quarter-final loss against Monaco. In both matches, he came onto field as a second-half substitute.

It was reported that Ronaldo’s relationship with former coach Fernando Santos took a hit during World Cup. Santos has w been replaced by Martinez in Portuguese dugout after he left Belgium national team role last month. As reported by Mirror, speaking to reporters, Martinez revealed his plans for his new team, including Ronaldo’s role in it.

“He deserves respect of being able to sit down and talk”

“Football decisions have to be taken on field of play. I'm t an office decision-making coach. So my starting point is to get to all players and I want to get in touch with m. list of 26 players from World Cup is my starting point and Cristia is a player on that list, he has been with national team for 19 years and he deserves respect of being able to sit down and talk,” Martinez told reporters.

On being asked about what role Ronaldo will play in his team, Spanish coach provided an evasive answer by saying that he wants to kw all players that can join team. “From here, re are 54 players in five biggest leagues who are under 28 years old, we have Benfica and FC Porto in Champions League. In or words, my job is to give every player an opportunity and respect everyone who is alrey in national team. From n on, Cristia Ronaldo is one of m. It is a natural process, work and responsibility and of making important decisions for team,” he ded.