Capello hoped Ronaldo would miss Russia tie
Reuters - Thursday 11 October 2012, 14:06
Russia coach Fabio Capello admitted he had hoped the injury to Portugal
captain Cristiano Ronaldo would be more serious and that he would miss
Friday's World Cup Group F qualifier in Moscow.
"Honestly speaking, I was hoping that Ronaldo's injury would be more serious," Capello told a news conference on Thursday.
"Of course if he didn't play, then it would be much easier for us to defend."
The
Real Madrid forward hurt his left shoulder in Sunday's Spanish league match against arch rivals Barcelona.
A medical examination revealed Ronaldo's injury was not serious and he is expected to start against Russia on Friday.
"Portugal
are a top-notch team and tonight, once again, we'll go over the
tactical schemes on how to play them," said Italian Capello, who
replaced Dick Advocaat following Russia's poor showing at Euro 2012.
"As
for Ronaldo, it's always very difficult to stop him," added the former
England manager, who also had two coaching spells with Real Madrid.
"Every
team tries but it's not so easy. We're going to try to play to the best
of our ability in order to neutralise his strengths."
Ronaldo
and his Real Madrid team-mate Pepe, who sustained a thigh injury on
Sunday, trained on Luzhniki Stadium's artificial turf on Thursday
evening and Portugal coach Paulo Bento said he was counting on both to
play on Friday.
"They both trained tonight without problems, so it should tell you something," Bento told reporters.
"For me Cristiano is the best player in the world, but with or without him we have come here for victory."
The
Russians have made a flying start in their World Cup qualifying
campaign under Capello, winning both matches so far, like the
Portuguese. On Tuesday, Russia host Azerbaijan while Portugal face
Northern Ireland.