Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Portugal team for their October internationals against Poland and Scotland at his own request.
The 33-year-old, who captains his nation and has made 154 appearances, is currently involved in a sexual assault scandal dating back to an incident in 2009 – though he denies the accusation.
However, The ongoing scandal is not the reason for his absence in the squad, with Portuguese news outlet A Bola reporting that he has asked to be left out of the team until 2019.
What this means is that he will also be unavailable for matches against Italy and a rematch against Poland in November.
He was also left out of the squad in September, meaning he is yet to play for the European champions since their appearance at the World Cup.
The reason for Ronaldo’s absence is that he has pleaded with both manager Fernando Santos, and federation chief Fernando Gomes to give him more time to adapt to life in Turin.
After almost a decade at Santiago Bernabeu, Ronaldo opted to move to Italy, and he and his family are still adjusting to their new life in Turin.
Having not had a summer off, the Juve attacker is also aware of the need to manage his body and rest well so as to perform at his best for his new club.
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However, Ronaldo told Santos and Gomes that he is still very much committed to representing and captaining Portugal, and has no plan of retiring from the national team any time soon.
