'No, We Are Better With Ronaldo': Portugal Coach Shuts Down Any Doubt Regarding The National Team Captain

Following Portugal's 9-1 win over Armenia, coach Roberto Martinez was asked if he believes that his side performs better without Cristiano Ronaldo in it. As a response, Martinez shared that it is a false claim and that the team always plays better with players like Ronaldo, Nuno Mendes, and Pedro Neto.

The coach shared, "No, we are better with Ronaldo, Nuno Mendes, and Pedro Neto. The most important thing is that football is a game of mistakes, of difficulties, of resilience, and when some players aren't there, we have to find a way to win. I think the important thing is to have all the important players, but also to have confidence and a clear idea that we can win when certain players aren't in the starting eleven."

Both Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves scored three goals each, while Renato Veiga, Goncalo Ramos, and Francisco Conceicao scored one goal each.

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Roberto Martinez On Why They Lost To Ireland

The Portugal head coach was asked about what changed in their recent match against Armenia and how it was different from what they showed against Ireland. Martinez responded, "I think the first idea is that we played to be better than Armenia, to try to win and use the strength of the fans. In Ireland, we were anxious; we played to qualify for the World Cup, and that's very difficult. Against Hungary, we were qualified, then we were out, and that was difficult to manage."

He further continued, "Today I really liked the players' reaction, we analyzed the work done in Ireland, and today we saw the team very committed, united, and that's what changed."

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Cristiano Ronaldo's Reaction To Portugal's Qualification For The 2026 World Cup

Following the match, the National Team captain took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his joy on the win. He wrote, "We're in the World Cup! Let's go, Portugal!" (translated).

Due to the red card he picked up in Portugal's match against Ireland, Ronaldo missed his national team's qualifying match against Armenia.