Martinez says there is no room for error as Portugal gear up for Ireland

VIDEO SHOWS: PORTUGAL TEAM TRAINING SESSION, CRISTIANO RONALDO AND TEAM TRAINING SESSION, PRESS CONFERENCE WITH PORTUGAL COACH ROBERTO MARTINEZ AND MIDFIELDER BRUNO FERNANDES RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: OEIRAS, PORTUGAL (OCTOBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF PORTUGAL FORWARD, CRISTIANO RONALDO, WALKING OUT WITH AND TAKING TO PORTUGAL COACH, ROBERTO MARTINEZ 2. PORTUGAL SQUAD WALKING OUT FOR TRAINING SESSION 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, ROBERTO MARTINEZ, SAYING:     "The important thing is to have the best possible performance against Ireland and try to go step by step. We've already talked about the qualifying phase; the qualifying phase is a strange one—there are only six matches, so there's no room for error. Our preparations have been very, very good; we have one more training session and the focus is Ireland. We cannot underestimate Ireland." 4. RONALDO AND PORTUGAL TEAMMATES JOGGING AROUND THE PITCH 5. VARIOUS OF RONALDO AND SQUAD JOGGING 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PORTUGAL MIDFIELDER, BRUNO FERNANDES, ON STAYING AT MANCHESTER UNITED, SAYING:     "I didn't close the door to the move to Saudi because of the World Cup, that was never in my mind. I just wanted to stay at the club. The club wanted me to stay and that was all." 7. CRISTIANO RONALDO TYING HIS BOOT  8. TRAINING IN PROGRESS 9. BRUNO FERNANDES DURING TRAINING SESSION  10. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL MIDFIELDER, BRUNO FERNANDES, SAYING:       "I feel really good in Manchester. I love the pressure I have there. I think it's something I should be happy about having such great pressure—because it means the goal is bigger than what we've achieved so far. I'm someone who likes challenges, and those challenges are good for helping me grow as a player and as a person, and to keep learning." 11. BERNARDO SILVA DURING TRAINING SESSION 12. NUNO MENDES DURING RONDO DRILL 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PORTUGAL MIDFIELDER, BRUNO FERNANDES, SAYING:      "No, obviously I know many of them. Defensively, they are very, very strong, physically also. They’re a team that is very direct. We need to be very aware of winning our duels and also of the second balls because they are very good in that to then get the chance to create something from that. We know that set pieces is one big part of their game. We are very aware of the qualities of their players, but obviously, we need to try to not give as much space for them to do that. And at the same time, we need to play our game and try to command the game." 14. GOALKEEPERS TRAINING 15. MARTINEZ WATCHING TRAINING  16. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS EXERCISING STORY: Cristiano Ronaldo trained with Portugal on Friday (October 10) as they gear up for a World Cup qualifier against Ireland.     Portugal top Group F, but coach Roberto Martinez said there was no room for error and that they can’t underestimate Ireland if they want to ensure they qualify for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.     "The important thing is to have the best possible performance against Ireland and try to go step by step. We've already talked about the qualifying phase; the qualifying phase is a strange one—there are only six matches, so there's no room for error. Our preparations have been very, very good; we have one more training session and the focus is Ireland. We cannot underestimate Ireland," Martinez said.      Portugal will host Ireland in Lisbon on Saturday (October 11) and then play hosts again to Hungary on October 14.      Sitting on six points, Portugal lead the group with Armenia in second on three points, followed by Hungary and Ireland on a point apiece after two matches. (Production: Miguel Pereira, Kurt Michael Hall)

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