Cristiano Ronaldo has cut short his mini-vacation to link up with his Portugal teammates as the European champions ramp up their preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Fresh off a third consecutive UEFA Champions League win, the Real Madrid forward was holidaying with model girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez as he sought to recharge his batteries before preparing for an assault on the biggest prize in football.
This will be the winger’s fourth World Cup and it looks like his competitive streak remains intact as he uploaded a picture of him with his teammates with this caption:
A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on
When translated, it reads, “Happy to return to my selection and have the first training and of course this is the winning team”.
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So, there can be no doubt that Ronaldo and Co. will be looking to settle for nothing less than a title in Russia, but considering they are not the favourites, it will be a tough ask.
So far without him, Portugal have failed to secure a win in either of their warm-up matches, drawing with Tunisia (2-2) and Belgium (0-0) but will look to make amends when they face Algeria on June 7.
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The Iberians are in Group B and will have to be fast out of the blocks for their opener is a big one, against European powerhouses Spain.
After their June 15 clash with their neighbours, the Portuguese will have to see off the challenges of Morocco (June 20) and Iran (June 25) to progress to the knockouts.