‘We play to win.. not for Cristiano Ronaldo’ – Danilo Pereira says Portugal squad unfazed by explosive Man Utd interview
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DANILO PEREIRA has insisted Cristiano Ronaldo's bombshell interview has not affected the Portugal squad ahead of the World Cup.
The 37-year-old pulled no punches as he attacked Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and Manchester United's hierarchy during a chat with Piers Morgan.
His revelations have come just days before he and the Portugal squad are set to kick off their World Cup campaign.
Some believe Ronaldo's revelations could overshadow Portugal's preparations for Qatar.
But Ronaldo's teammate, Danilo Pereira, has dismissed those concerns.
The 31-year-old said: "There will be criticism because Cristiano is a player who sells a lot, he is a player who is talked about every day.
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"If he's bad, people will talk. If he's okay, people will talk. So, we within the group see this naturally.
"It's normal for Cristiano, being the strongest point of the national team, to have more spotlight on him.
"We're going to throw more balls at him, we're going to try to get him to score goals and he will also demand that."
The PSG defender added: "It's natural that there is this conversation because people think we play for Cristiano, but that's not the case. We play to win games."
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Ronaldo claimed he did not have respect for ten Hag during a tell-all interview earlier this week.
He also attacked the appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager last season and engaged in a war of words with former teammate Wayne Rooney.
Ronaldo has since been caught in strange Portugal training ground interactions with United team-mate Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo.
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Fernando Santos' side have a warm-up game with Nigeria in the following days.
They are then pitted against Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea in Group H of the World Cup.