Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo sat out training
with Portugal on Tuesday, sparking fears that he might not be fit for Friday's
World Cup play-off first leg against Sweden.
Ronaldo has been struggling slightly with an injury to
his left foot in recent weeks, but played in Real Madrid's demolition of Real
Sociedad at the weekend.
Nevertheless, the Daily Mail reports that he missed
training with the national team on Tuesday—a precautionary measure with
Friday's first leg in Lisbon.
The Mail reports:
Cristiano
Ronaldo missed training on Tuesday to hand Portugal a headache ahead of the
first leg of their World Cup qualifier against Sweden on Friday.
The
Real Madrid superstar is struggling with an injury to his left foot and spent
the morning being assessed by the medical staff.
The match has been widely billed as Ronaldo against
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Paris St. Germain striker who plays a similarly
talismanic role for Sweden. Much has been made of how only one of them can be
at next summer's World Cup.
The injury to Ronaldo is a concern, but it is unlikely it
is a problem that will force him to miss one of the most important games in his
country's recent history. With his position in the team assured, it is not
imperative that he is available for every training session.
What is imperative is that he is able to play in both
legs of the contest—so taking some time out at the beginning of preparations to
assess his injury and how best to manage it seems eminently sensible.
Culled from Bleacherreports
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