In Portugal's latest match, Cristiano Ronaldo was benched for the first time by head coach Fernando Santos.
The Al Nassr player had never been used as a substitute by Roberto Martinez since taking charge of A Selecao das Quinas in the UEFA Nations League against Scotland on Sunday night.
At half-time, when the Scots led 1-0, Ronaldo came off the bench to have a decisive impact on the game, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory.
With that strike marking the 901st goal of his illustrious career, Martinez was asked about his decision not to start the iconic forward for the game, and he insisted the Real Madrid legend needed his minutes managed following their previous encounter against Croatia.
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Martinez told reporters, "Cristiano is in a good place.".
It's September, he's played three games, he's scored.
It is not possible for Cristiano to play two 90-minute games in 72 hours.
As long as he needed to be on the pitch, he needed to finish the game, not start it.
I liked his commitment, he is ready to be decisive and do what the team needs."
