Cristiano Ronaldo To Miss World Cup Warm-Up Friendly Against Nigeria

Portugal striker and Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo will miss World Cup warm-up friendly against Nigeria on Thursday due to a stomach illness, according to his coach Fernando Santos.

Ronaldo gave an explosive interview to Piers Morgan’s show on TalkTV this week in which he criticised Manchester United and said he had no respect for the coach Erik ten Hag, who has not relied on him much this season.

The striker, 37, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, will not train on Wednesday because of the illness, which has started amid the controversy caused by his interview.

“He is suffering from gastroenteritis and will not train today for this reason,” Santos told a press conference in Lisbon.

“He won’t be ready (to face Nigeria), he’s resting, as you know, gastritis takes a lot out of players.”