Cristiano Ronaldo set to face Ireland in final home international

Tuesday’s international at a 31,000 sold-out Aveiro Municipal Stadium will bring a 205th cap for the attacker

Sun, 09 Jun, 2024 - 13:13

John Fallon Porto

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be unleashed on Ireland for his final international game on Portuguese soil.

Roberto Martinez opted against exposing the 39-year-old legend in the first two parts of their treble-header of pre-Euro 2024 friendlies, the 4-2 win over Finland and Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Croatia.

Tuesday’s international at a 31,000 sold-out Aveiro Municipal Stadium, an hour south of Porto, will bring a 205th cap for the attacker and he’ll be squaring up against his former Manchester United teammate John O’Shea in caretaker charge of the Irish.

The Portuguese are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Germany, kicking off their tournament on Tuesday week against Czech Republic before facing Turkey and Georgia in the pool.

Martinez shipped flak for not activating the firepower of the 128-goal Ronaldo from the bench in Lisbon on Saturday but all roads are leading to him taking centre-stage against the Irish.

His late brace against in 2021 sealed a Portugal a famous 2-1 World Cup qualification victory over Ireland.

Although he’s nowadays based in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr, Ronaldo remains a central cog in the Portuguese artillery and will feature at his sixth Euro finals.

“We have 23 players, which create competitiveness,” the former Everton boss said about the superstar’s place in the unit.

“But Cristiano is prepared to help the team and give everything he can give. And there is no other player in the world of soccer who can bring what Cristiano can to the dressing room.”

Conceding four goals in two friendlies doesn’t bode well for what’s confronting Portugal in Germany but the manager insisted these trio of friendlies are imperative for flattening any creases.

“We want to win these matches but the objective is preparation,” the Spaniard noted.

“We made four substitutions at half-time. Croatia deserved it, but for us it was the test we needed and there were some positive aspects. Now we must synchronise and connect.”

His Ireland counterpart O'Shea reflected on his former colleague's longevity. “It’s incredible what he’s still doing. You talk about application and the levels you want from every player, understanding what you can do and what he has done in his career, maintained his level, still be involved in the national team and to be still planning on having a major impact at a tournament is great to see.

“In fairness to him, he’s marketed himself brilliantly in terms of what he’s wanted to do, but ultimately it’s led to what he’s been doing on the pitch still. That’s been key to his off-the-field activities. When it comes to it, his preparation and detail is second to none.”

O’Shea has reported no fresh injury concerns in the wake of Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Hungary.

Troy Parrott’s late winner should earn him promotion to the starting team following a 17-goal season on loan at relegated Dutch side Excelsior while fellow striker Tom Cannon is poised to make his debut as a substitute. That will secure the Liverpudlian’s allegiance to Ireland after he last year stalled amid a rival approach from England U21 boss Lee Carsley.

O'Shea also had a word for one of his veterans, likening the experience of Shane Duffy to the role O'Shea's fellow Waterford man Thomas Barr plays in Ireland's European Championship relay gold medal winners.

“It’s a different sport obviously but you see the mixed relay team getting their gold medal in Europe, Tom Barr and the age of Tom and the rest of the lads, you can see there’s a bit of quality there too with experience.

“We need that blend, we need people that have had big results for Ireland, been involved in big game scenarios and helping the younger ones understand it.

“It’s the level that the [senior] lads will be playing at and if the younger ones are ready, we will see that, the eyes we have on them in training and going to watch them in games, we will know when they are ready to start and improve the national team. It will be fairly straightforward, they will be performing at a level where you can’t ignore them anymore, they are ready to go and take the next steps in their career.”

Ireland’s failure to reach the Euros under former boss Stephen Kenny means this is the final game before the Uefa Nations League campaign kicks off against England on September 7 at Lansdowne Road.

Another decent result will boost O’Shea’s candidacy for the vacancy but the FAI are still confident of appointing a permanent boss with a mixture of club and international experience during July.