Ronaldo in doubt for World Cup opener after red card

VIDEO SHOWS: PORTUGAL TRAINING AND PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM MIDFIELDER BRUNO FERNANDES AND COACH ROBERTO MARTINEZ. SHOWS: PORTO, PORTUGAL (NOVEMBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF PORTUGAL COACH ROBERTO MARTINEZ SPEAKING WITH DIOGO DALOT ON PITCH 2. PORTUGAL SQUAD WALKING OUT FOR TRAINING SESSION 3. JOAO CANCELO KICKING BALL 4. GONCALO RAMOS KICKING BALL 5. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS GATHERED ON PITCH LISTENING TO MARTINEZ 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL MIDFIELDER, BRUNO FERNANDES, SAYING: "We need to have more people in the box, we have to give more support to our forwards to create more chaos in the box and fewer man-to-man markings, which make it harder for the strikers to score goals. There are many other aspects we need to improve as well, but it's not because we lost to Ireland that we suddenly have to change them — we already needed to change them when we beat Spain and Germany. But unfortunately, of course, mistakes are more obvious when we lose and not so much when we win games." 7. VARIOUS OF PORTUGAL PLAYERS JOGGING AROUND THE PITCH 8. MARTINEZ WATCHING PLAYERS JOGGING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL COACH, ROBERTO MARTINEZ, SAYING: "After a game we can grow, when there's a defeat, we can grow even more. We're sad, it was a game I've already spoken about and I don't think now is the time to talk about that match. The sadness now is an opportunity, an opportunity to play at home, to play in front of our fans, to play against a team we respect a lot, Armenia, but it's also a team to whom we want to show the level we've already shown away from home and to finish securing qualification." 10. GONCALO RAMOS WARMING UP  11. PLAYERS WARMING UP  12. PLAYERS STRETCHING 13. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PORTUGAL MIDFIELDER, BRUNO FERNANDES, SAYING: "A moment when Cris (Cristiano Ronaldo) had a reaction that cost him dearly, obviously something he's aware of, something he didn't want to do but that ended up happening. He knows he made a mistake, and unfortunately he can't help us tomorrow, but it doesn't change the fact that, regardless of that sending-off or not, we were already on the back foot in the game. But of course it made things a bit harder because we had to play with ten men and didn't have a player who can score goals at any moment." 14. GONCALO RAMOS AND JOAO NEVES STRETCHING  15. PLAYERS EXERCISING WITH BALL 16. JOAO FELIX EXERCISING WITH BALL  17. BERNARDO SILVA EXERCISING WITH BALL  18. PLAYERS EXERCISING WITH BALL 19. VITINHA AND JOAO NEVES PASSING THE BALL 20. TRAINING IN PROGRESS STORY: Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Portugal's World Cup qualifier against Armenia on Sunday (November, 16) and could be in doubt for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup after receiving the first red card of his record international career, during a 2–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland on Thursday (November 13). The incident occurred in the 61st minute, when Ronaldo elbowed Irish defender Dara O’Shea away from the play. The referee initially issued a yellow card, but following a VAR review at the pitchside monitor, the punishment was upgraded to a straight red. "He knows he made a mistake, and unfortunately he can't help us tomorrow, but it doesn't change the fact that, regardless of that sending-off or not, we were already on the back foot in the game," midfielder Bruno Fernandes told reporters. The dismissal was Ronaldo’s first while representing Portugal, coming in his 226th appearance. (Production: Lucy Thomson, Miguel Gutierrez Rosas)

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