Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Ronaldo ‘calm’ after late draw
PORTUGAL captain Cristiano Ronaldo insists there is no reason to be alarmed by their opening draw in the Confederations Cup.
A stoppage-time header by Hector Moreno saw Mexico equalise to make it 2-2 after Portugal thought they had won it with Cedric Soares’ deflected shot four minutes from time.
The result handed the early initiative in group A to hosts Russia, winners over New Zealand on Saturday.
However, with two teams qualifying for the semi-finals from the four-team pool and Russia up next, Ronaldo is confident the European champions can quickly improve their fortunes.
“It was not the result we wanted, t he team had almost won and we suffered in the last minutes, but this is football,” said Ronaldo, who i s under more scrutiny than usual playing for his country after it emerged on Friday he wants to quit European champions Real Madrid and leave Spain as a result of an investigation into his tax affairs.
“The team continue to believe in qualification, we have great possibilities, because there are still two games left.”
Ronaldo added i n his post-match interview: “We are calm and we have to think about the next game.
“We have to win, because if we win the next game we will be one step away from qualifying.
“We do not have to sound the alarm.”