"It was important to give him some minutes" - Portugal coach Fernando Santos
Cristiano Ronaldo scored to help Portugal cruise to a comfortable 3-0 win against Qatar in their friendly at Estadio Algarve on Saturday.
The Manchester United star only played one half, while Jose Fonte and Andre Silva sealed the victory for Portugal after the break.
Portugal host Luxembourg on Tuesday, while Qatar travel to Dublin where they play a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland on the same day.
Fernando Santos, Portugal coach:
(On Cristiano Ronaldo)
"Regarding Cristiano, yes, it was important to give him some minutes. We could either let him play after the break or from kick-off, and I decided to give him the first 45 minutes. He is a player who really needs to be involved in games. He needs to have contact with the ball. And training is not exactly the same as playing an official match. He had actually played on Tuesday of the past week and then he played 20 minutes on the weekend. So I thought these 45 minutes tonight would be important for him. The same goes to other players who came in after the break. Playing 30 or 35 minutes is also very important."
Fernando Santos, Portugal coach:
(On Matheus Nunes, Rafael Leao and Diogo Costa)
"If they are here it is because I obviously trust them. Otherwise I would not have called them. As I did, they do belong to that group of 30 or 35 players who can be called to play Selecao at any time. But then I can only use 11 on the line-up. I cannot use 35, 20 or 22. That is impossible. The team will always have 11 players. And I have to decide who they are by analysing what's best for each game. But tonight they clearly proved to have the level to play for the Selecao."