Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo will play no part in his nation's friendly against their Brazilian counterparts on Tuesday night.

The Real Madrid attacker played and scored a hat-trick during last night's 4-2 win over Northern Ireland, despite the fact that he was suffering with a knee injury.

Having sacrificed himself for that World Cup qualifier, it has been decided that the 28-year-old should sit out against the Brazilians to avoid aggravating the complaint further.

"Ronaldo has had a week of intense treatment, he made an enormous sacrifice and now he needs to rest," Portugal's team doctor Henrique Jones told reporters.

Ronaldo's trio of goals took him above Eusebio as Portugal's second-highest goalscorer of all time.

Written by
Liam Apicella