Despite the exit of the Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, with his Manchester United team, from the price of the Champions League final and approaching a zero season, the player tried to motivate the players of the national team before the decisive European play-off that qualifies for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
And on his accounts and official pages on the communication sites, the captain of the Portuguese national team and his historical scorer published pictures of the training and attached them to a comment that said, "The focus is complete on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, and proud - as usual - to be in Portugal, we know that the road is not easy."
"We have to respect our opponents that we will face because they also have the same goal and want to qualify for the World Cup, but together we will fight to put Portugal in the right place," he added.
Portugal will face Turkey next Thursday in the semi-finals of the European qualifier for the World Cup, and winning the match is the crossing to face Italy (who is expected to qualify from facing North Macedonia), the European champion in the European play-off final.
But it is a difficult task for Portugal, and although Ronaldo was the best player in the team for a long time and is still the darling of the fans, a debate has emerged - the recent period - about whether the “Brazil of Europe” team would be better off without its leader.
Portuguese journalist Sergio Perez says it is "almost as a political problem, because its solution requires a summit to reach an agreement on a strategy to prepare for Ronaldo's retirement from the national team."
"I find it controversial to say that the national team plays better without the best player in it, especially when you don't have a track record of matches played in these conditions (without the participation of Ronaldo)."
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Portugal may not have lost a match without Ronaldo since 2014, but he missed their 4-1 victory over Croatia in the Nations League, which was described as the best performance by Fernando Santos' team since taking charge.
The team includes many prominent players at the present time, such as: Bruno Fernandez, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix and Diego Jota.
So, there is a feeling that when Ronaldo plays, the spotlight is being drawn on by the other players, because they feel that they always have to pass the ball to him instead of doing what they want or what serves the team.
The "Madeira missile" scored 115 goals in 184 matches for the Portugal national team, and he is not only the national team's historical scorer, but the most international goalscorer in the history of football.
"It's different when Cristiano plays because he's an important player, all the players want to play for him, they know they have to pass the ball to him," the British newspaper, Daily Mail, quoted a source close to the team.
"We have a saying that the team is Ronaldo plus 10. The team is more comfortable and free without him. The team is better without him."
Manchester United suffer from a similar problem, as players struggle to meet the standards set by the Portuguese star on and off the field.
Will Ronaldo start with Portugal?
Santos has no plans to exclude the best player from the Portuguese national team.
"I don't think any team in the world can do better without their best player," he said.
This means that Ronaldo will be on the field from the start against Turkey, and perhaps against Italy.