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Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his pleasure on returning to the Portugal national team for this month's international break.
Ronaldo took to Twitter to post four images, including individual snaps and photos with his teammates, from A Selecao's training session. He captioned the tweet (as translated from Portuguese):
"Very happy to return to our national team and be able to represent Portugal again!"
Portugal will open their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign against Liechtenstein at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on March 23 before taking on Luxembourg away from home three days later.
Ronaldo is expected to play both games in what will be his first involvement for A Selecao since the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The all-time top-scorer in men's international football scored just once - a penalty against Ghana in the group stage - in the Qatar showpiece.
He was also relegated to the bench for the knockouts, with Portugal exiting the competition in the quarterfinals following a 1-0 loss to Morocco. Reports about Ronaldo's future with the national team dominated headlines after the game, but those have now been put to rest.
"I don't look at age" - Roberto Martinez explains Cristiano Ronaldo selection in Portugal squad
This month's fixtures will see Roberto Martinez make his managerial debut for Portugal. The Belgian was announced as A Selecao's new head coach in January after they parted ways with Fernando Santos following their 2022 FIFA World Cup exit.
Speaking about his decision to include Ronaldo in the squad for the team's fixtures this month, Martinez said (as quoted by the Daily Mail):
"Cristiano Ronaldo is a very committed player. He can bring experience and is a very important figure for the team. I don't look at age."
Cristiano Ronaldo will enter the international break in good form. The Portuguese legend has scored nine times in eight Saudi Pro League games for Al-Nassr, who are just one point behind leaders Al-Ittihad.
