Mourinho: Ronaldo fit for Spurs
442 Staff - Wednesday 23 March 2011, 14:38
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will be fit to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League quarter-final first-leg tie at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mourinho revealed that the Portuguese forward would be available for the game after speaking at the Football Extravaganza 2011 event held in London’s Grovesnor House Hotel on Tuesday night.
It was originally thought that Real’s top scorer would miss the fixture after picking up a hamstring injury in their 2-1 derby victory over Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Ronaldo subsequently pulled out of the Portugal squad for the upcoming friendlies against Chile and Finland, while also being ruled out for Real’s La Liga match against Sporting Gijon at the weekend ahead of the showdown with Harry Redknapp's men in Madrid.
Mourinho had previously declared that Ronaldo’s participation in Real’s first Champions league quarter-final appearance in seven years was doubtful, until his remarks on Tuesday, where he attended an event raising money for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity.
Jose himself submitted a successful bid of around £10,000 for a group of kids to go to a training session at Chelsea, while his agent Jorge Mendes paid £18,000 for a limited edition Fiat car with Mourinho’s signature on the dashboard.
“My wife tells me I’ve achieved everything in football and it’s time I did something outside football,” said Mourinho.
“She’s right; of course you can always win more but I’ve won it all. Being here tonight is easy and I feel very happy that I can do a small thing for these children.”
The event raised more than £400,000 for the charity, which specialises in transforming the lives of children and adults constrained by illness, disability, trauma or isolation through the power of music.
By Vithushan Ehantharajah