Germany, Ghana and the United States have been holding out hope that they weren't going to have to face a fully fit Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup, but it appears they'll get the Ballon d'Or winner at close to his best. Ronaldo played 65 minutes in Portugal's friendly against Ireland on Tuesday and suffered no obvious setbacks.
Cristiano Ronaldo looks fit for the World Cup
Bad news, Group G. Cristiano Ronaldo is ready.
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
While Ronaldo was taking it easy for parts of the match, he still looked dangerous on the pitch and had some part in three Portugal goals, even if he didn’t score any of them himself. Once Paulo Bento had seen enough, Nani entered for Ronaldo, who waved to the crowd and didn’t appear to have any issue with his injured left leg.
Ronaldo now has nearly a week of training to get fully fit for Portugal’s opening World Cup match against Germany, and after this match, Jogi Löw and company will almost certainly be preparing to see the best version of Ronaldo. And given Die Mannschaft’s instability at fullback and central midfield, that’s particularly bad news.
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