Portugal coach Roberto Martinez has brushed aside suggestions that Cristiano Ronaldo should have been rested like Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, describing such comparisons as “childish” and insisting his captain remains fully capable of playing every minute of the World Cup.
Ronaldo completed another full match in Portugal’s goalless draw against Colombia on Saturday, meaning the 41-year-old has played every minute of Portugal’s group-stage campaign.
Messi was left out of Argentina’s starting XI for their final Group J match against Jordan, but came on as a substitute and scored in a 3-1 win. Erling Haaland, meanwhile, did not feature in Norway’s final Group I game against France, which they lost 4-1.
Despite Portugal finishing second in Group K after a 0-0 draw against the South Americans, Martinez maintained that managing Ronaldo’s workload is based on his own condition rather than what other nations choose to do with their star forwards.
“We don’t compare with other players of other teams. That would be childish,” Martinez said when asked why Ronaldo had not been rested after Messi and Haaland were left out of their respective teams’ final group fixtures.
The Portugal manager said Ronaldo’s game is built around experience, discipline and intelligent movement rather than physical output alone.
“Cristiano is used to being in the right place at the right time. It’s more a question of mentally being strong and always being disciplined in position and always opening space in our attacking patterns,” he said.
Martinez added that the veteran striker has shown no signs of struggling with the workload.
“It’s not an issue for Cristiano to play 90 minutes, but maybe the next game we need to make a change, but that’s like any other player,” he said.
The Spaniard stressed that Portugal constantly monitor every player’s physical condition and have rotated the squad throughout the group stage where necessary.
“We have used 21 outfield players, so we do share the minutes,” he said. “We monitor all the information we get in games and training, and there is always an opportunity to make changes.”
He pointed to substitutions involving João Neves, Rúben Neves, Diogo Dalot and João Cancelo against Colombia as evidence that Portugal tailor decisions according to individual workloads and positional demands.
“There are some players who are not at full fitness, but all of the data we collect is very important in helping us make those decisions,” Martinez said.
Despite missing out on the top spot, Martinez insisted the group stage had served its purpose.
“Now it’s time to adjust, improve and steer the matches where we want them, with more possession and better control,” he said. “We needed these three matches to reach our best level.”
“We want to be here for eight matches, and it is a different tournament now,” he added.
Portugal’s second-place finish means they now head into the knockout stage with a tougher path, facing Croatia in Toronto in the round of 32, with a potential meeting against European champions Spain looming beyond that.