Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By RYAN TOLMICH
The game of “is he or isn’t he” around Cristiano Ronaldo’s fitness continues, with another teammate of his claiming the striker is “100 percent fit.”
Ronaldo reportedly left training early on Wednesday with his knee iced and the Real Madrid forward has been plagued by injury worries throughout his time in Brazil. Some reports even say his career could be in danger if he decides to keep playing through this World Cup.
However, according to Portugal goalkeeper Beto, the 29-year-old star is “sick of reading things about him that are not true” as Ronaldo is fully expected to feature in Portugal’s clash with the U.S. Men’s National Team Sunday.
“Cristiano is 100 percent fit to play. Every match, if he starts to play, it is because he is fit to play, he’s ready to play,” Beto said. “He loves football but his body is the most important thing for him … so if he starts a match he is ready, he is fit, so I don’t think that is a problem.”
Ronaldo has been dealing with tendonitis in his knee for the past few weeks and the Portuguese star put in an uncharacteristically lackluster performance in Portugal’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany.
However, Beto is fully confident in Ronaldo’s fitness, as well as his side’s ability to keep their World Cup hopes alive this weekend against the U.S.
“The best version of Portugal can beat United States,” Beto said. “We respect the United States of America. It is a very good team. They grew up the last years and so we got to respect them. But we believe in ourselves.”
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What do you think of Beto’s comments? What do you expect from Ronaldo in this weekend’s clash with the U.S.?
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