Scotland welcome the Portuguese on Tuesday and their main man is itching to start
Determined Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed off against Poland so he would be fully fit to play his first ever game at Hampden, Portugal boss Roberto Martinez revealed.
Scotland welcome the Portuguese on Tuesday and legendary former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar Ronaldo will play his first ever game at Hampden at the age of 39. He netted his 133rd goal of his international career at the weekend as Portugal eased to a 3-1 win in Poland as they maintained their 100 per cent record. His 132nd goal came against Scotland last month. Martinez subbed him off in Warsaw in the 63rd minute as he won his 215th cap.
And former Motherwell midfielder Martinez explained it was part of his game management to keep the veteran ready for two games this week. He said: “The substitution was important because it’s part of us managing the players. We have two games in 72 hours. So we took Cristiano off so he would be ready for the second game in Scotland. Diogo Jota came on for him and did very well. It’s important to use the players we have on the bench. Cristiano is in perfect shape for our next game.”
Meanwhile, Scotland will create a new unwanted record if they lose to Portugal tomorrow – it will be their longest losing streak in their 152-year history. Steve Clarke’s side lost again in their latest Nations League game in Croatia and they have now been defeated in all three games in the group after losses to Poland and Portugal last month.
They also lost their last Euro 2024 game to an injury time goal to Hungary in Stuttgart. And Scotland have never lost five games in a row in their history. On five separate occasions, Scotland have lost four games in a row – in 1965, 1973, 2002, 2003 and 2019. In 1965, Scotland lost to Italy, England, Netherlands and Portugal. In 1973, the defeats were to Northern Ireland, England, Switzerland and Brazil.
In 2002, Scotland slumped to losses from France, Nigeria, South Korea and South Africa and the following year, Netherlands, Wales, Romania and Denmark defeated the Scots in consecutive games. The last occasion, Scotland lost four games in a row was to Belgium and Russia twice, before beating San Marino 6-0 five years ago. Scotland have yet to lose five games in a row in their proud history, but are huge outsiders to win against Cristiano Ronaldo and co. at Hampden.
