Cristiano Ronaldo left out of Portugal squad autumn fixtures

PanARMENIAN.Net - Cristiano Ronaldo was again left out of the Portugal squad on Thursday, October 4 this time for upcoming games against Poland and Scotland, ESPN FC reports.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos did not call up Ronaldo, the country's World Cup captain, who has been the subject of a reopened investigation into an alleged rape in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.

According to Record, Ronaldo recently spoke to Santos and to Portuguese federation president Fernando Gomes, with the three deciding it is best for the Juventus forward not to be included in the squad through November -- though it is unclear if his omission is related to the allegations.

However, Ronaldo told Santos and Gomes that his absence does not mean his commitment to the national team has wavered.

"In the future, nothing will prevent Ronaldo from contributing to the team," Santos said at a news conference.

Portugal travel to Chorzow to face Poland on Oct. 11 in the UEFA Nations League before taking on Scotland three days later in a friendly in Glasgow.

Ronaldo, who has scored three goals and set up four others in seven Serie A starts for Juve, has not featured for the national team since Portugal's round-of-16 World Cup defeat against Uruguay.

He was rested in the 1-1 friendly draw with Croatia and the 1-0 win over Italy in the Nations League last month to be given time to adapt to Serie A following his €100 million transfer from Real Madrid in the summer.

Ronaldo missed Juventus' Champions League win against Young Boys on Tuesday after serving a one-match ban.