We played well, deserved more: Ronaldo
Portugal captain and star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has said that his team played well in the FIFA World Cup and deserved something more out of the tournament.
The comment came after Portuguese were knocked out of the World Cup by Uruguay in the eliminating round.
“We must congratulate Uruguay because they are the national team that are in the quarter-final. I think we played a good game and maybe we deserved more, but in football, the ones that score the most goals win and they scored two, so congratulations,” Marca.com quoted Ronaldo, as saying.
“We leave with our heads held high. As the captain of Portugal, I know how hard we have worked and we must be proud of the team,” he added.
The Portugal skipper further said that he is happy with kind of efforts put in by the players and asserted that this team will continue to win in the future. “We go with our heads held high and we are sure that this team will continue to win things,” he said.
“This team will continue to be one of the best in the world, with quality players, a young group, united. I am confident and happy because this team will always fight with all their strength,” he added.
Uruguay brushed aside Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal 2-1 in their round of 16 encounter at the ongoing 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
Ron still has lot: Coach
Meanwhile, Portugal coach Fernando Santos has lamented the elimination of his team in the second round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while expressing his wish that the reigning European champions continue to be led by Cristiano Ronaldo, “who still has a lot to give to football”.
“I am convinced that he has a lot to give to football, there is a tournament in September, the league of UEFA nations and we hope he is with us to help the young people, who need the example of the captain,” he said of the 31-year-old superstar after Portugal’s loss on Saturday, reports Efe.
Edinson Cavani scored in the seventh and 62nd minutes while Portugal got their goal from Pepe in the 55th minute at the Fisht Stadium as Uruguay entered the last eight stage of the World Cup only for the second time in 48 years.
The coach said Ronaldo knows how to play as a team and that no player can win a single game.
“I want to thank the players for their delivery, we did our best, but there is no moral victory, only the points victory and I have to congratulate Uruguay,” he said.
“Uruguay scored two goals and we only scored one. We can not say that we made mistakes. we knew they were good in midfield, we tried to beat them back in the first half, we did it well.
“In the second we had more success, we had two very good chances but we did not achieve it,” he said.