Portugal boss Roberto Martinez is sticking by his decision to keep faith with Cristiano Ronaldo despite questions over the 39-year-old's suitability for a place in his Euro 2024 side.
Ronaldo played for the full 90 minutes of Portugal's 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in Leipzig on Tuesday, but his lack of movement in attack did sometimes stifle the 2016 European Champions.
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva admitted that Portugal got better in attack when they brought on their substitutes, with Diogo Jota seeing a header ruled out by VAR before Francisco Conceicao grabbed a stoppage time winner to spark raucous celebrations.
"They defended low in many moments but with a lot of resilience," said Silva. "But especially in the second half with the changes we put more players in the area, which I think in the first half there were few players in the area to finish the chances.
"Chico (Conceicao), Jota, (Pedro) Neto, when they came in, they especially gave us that."
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Much of the talk in Portugal ahead of Saturday's meeting with Turkey in Dortmund is over whether or not Ronaldo should keep hold of his starting berth, but Martinez says the Al-Nassr forward is still very much in his plans and pointed to his exemplary record in European Championships.
Roberto Martinez is sticking by Ronaldo from the start (UEFA via Getty Images)In turning a question around onto a journalist during a press conference, Martinez said: "Can I ask you a question? Do you know how many minutes Cristiano played last season? Do you have experience?
"There is no other player in the history of football who has played six Euros. It is important to understand what a player brings. Cristiano brings experience, he brings opportunities to goal and a way to open spaces.
"Cristiano is in the national team because he deserves to be here. Just look at what he did and what he has done in recent competitions."
Ronaldo made 45 appearances for Al-Nassr in the past season, amassing nearly 4,000 minutes of football. Portugal defender and Ronaldo's former Manchester United team-mate Diogo Dalot says he believes the veteran will come good against Turkey.
Speaking after the win over the Czechs, Dalot said: "Cristiano is very well, very concentrated. He's very well physically and he's there always ready to score goals and we hope that in the next match it continues like this.”
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