Man City ace makes Cristiano Ronaldo admission ahead of Portugal vs Switzerland at the World Cup

Ruben Dias has appealed to Portuguese media to consider their coverage of former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated the headlines in recent weeks following his controversial TV interview with Piers Morgan subsequent Manchester United exit. The attacker is now a free agent and is weighing up his next move, with Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia the latest club to be linked with a swoop.

For now though, the veteran’s focus is firmly on his World Cup duties with Portugal. He helped his country get out of their group and they are now preparing for their last-16 clash against Switzerland on Tuesday evening.

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias is international team-mates with Ronaldo and the pair will be aiming to guide their nation to the quater-finals later this week. However, Dias believes all the talk surrounding the ex-United forward isn’t healthy for the team and is having a negative impact.

Dias was the latest Portugal player on media duty on Monday, and he hit back when asked about Ronaldo’s place in the team, with the wider context of his United exit also a talking point.

And in response, Dias made direct appeal to the media present not to divide the Portugal camp as they look to reach a quarter final this week.

“I actually think you shouldn’t ask Ruben Dias that, but you should ask that to Cristiano Ronaldo,” Dias said.

“I’d like to take this moment to say, in this tournament the press is supporting us and Ronaldo, so I’d like to make an appeal to the press; as we progress, instead of creating a divide, create unity, then who knows maybe we’ll have good strength and positive energy for all involved.”

United made the decision to cut ties with Ronaldo last month and his emotional return to Old Trafford in 2021 turned sour. Erik ten Hag’s side now have a vacancy to fill in attack and have the January transfer window to scour the market for potential replacements.

All eyes are fixed on the World Cup right now and Portugal will be eager to see off Switzerland. They were beaten by South Korea last time out, albeit knowing ahead of the game they had already qualified.