23 March 2023 , 17:46
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Portugal national team boss Roberto Martinez has managed to side-step the pressure that was on him to appoint Cristiano Ronaldo as the captain under his watch.
The former Belgium manager succeeded Fernando Santos as manager after the latter stepped down in the wake of disappointment at the Qatar World Cup late last year. One of Martinez's biggest decisions in the opening exchanges of his reign has been what to do in regards to the captain's armband.
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo was the skipper under Santos, though eyebrows were raised recently when central defender Pepe served as Portugal's voting representative at the FIFA Best Awards, a role usually left for the captain.
As a result, the spotlight was placed firmly on Martinez in regards to how he was planning to handle the captaincy situation. However, his response may leave more questions than answers.
Instead of appointing one clear skipper, Martinez has gone down the route of forming a captaincy group and identified three different players who can now claim the title of skipper.
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The Portugal boss was inundated with questions by reporters ahead of the nation's UEFA Euro qualifier against Liechtenstein on Thursday night surrounding his next step over the captaincy.
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Cristiano Ronaldo was all smiles in training for Portugal this week (Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)"At the moment, the players with the most experience will be the ones who will captain the Selection. Cristiano Ronaldo, Rui Patrício and Bernardo will be the captains.
"From there it is important that we focus on tomorrow's game. It is a qualifying game, we only have ten and there is no margin for error."
Martinez refused to be drawn into commenting whether his first game at the helm will see a line-up similar to the one that was dumped out of the World Cup at the hands of Morocco in December.
"It depends a lot on the last three training sessions. It is important that what happened in training reflects what will happen tomorrow.
"It is an important starting point, there is no margin for error. You have to win and grow. What surprised me a lot was the degree of commitment to the selection. May we be better than the sum of our individualities."
Ronaldo has been named in the squad for the latest round of fixtures, which also sees Portugal face off with Luxembourg on Sunday night.
The 38-year-old has been playing his club football Al-Nassr since the turn of the year and has shone for the Saudi outfit, boasting more goals than games for the fifth club of his illustrious career.