Ruben Dias Defends Ronaldo, Dismisses Talk of Locker Room Rift

Portugal defender Ruben Dias moved to calm tensions after Joao Neves sparked a stir by saying that Cristiano Ronaldo is “not different from us right now.” Dias, who did not play in Portugal’s disappointing 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo and could return for the second round of Group 11, used Tuesday’s press conference to reject talk of divisions in the squad before the match against Uzbekistan at 20:00.

Dias said Ronaldo, the team captain, is accustomed to pressure at club, national team, and international level. “He is not a young player,” said the Manchester City center-back. “All of us, and of course Cristiano, are used to dealing with media pressure at club level, with the national team, and in world and European competitions. These background noises are not an issue for us. It is meaningless, it is noise.” He added that although there is speculation after poor results, “it does not affect our confidence” and that “we continue together as a team, we are united.”

He also said there is “nothing new” happening inside the squad and described difficult moments as opportunities to improve. “I have never seen a difficult moment as a wall that cannot be crossed, but as a stone that can be climbed to get higher,” he said. “For me, this is simply an opportunity for us to become better and stronger.”

Looking back at the opening 1-1, Dias said Portugal started well, scored early and had positive energy, but then relaxed, lost positional discipline and became less effective. He said the team stopped creating the fear it needed to create and got caught in a “strange dynamic.” On the young defenders Tomas Araujo and Renato Veiga, who started in his absence, he said communication during camp had been natural and urged them not to hesitate to speak up, even to experienced teammates if needed.