Cristiano Ronaldo in tears as he sings Portuguese national anthem in first game since Manchester United exit
Cristiano Ronaldo was in tears as he sang the Portuguese national anthem ahead of their clash with Ghana.
The Portugal captain was making his first appearance since mutually agreeing to terminate his Manchester United contract on Tuesday.
The free agent has endured a turbulent couple of weeks following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan where he fired criticism at Manchester United, manager Erik ten Hag and the club's owners, the Glazers.
There is not yet any indication of where Ronaldo will play his club football in the new year but for now all his focus is on adding the World Cup to the European Championship winners medal he picked up with Portugal in 2016.
And that focus appears to have spilled over as a teary-eyed Ronaldo belted out Portugal's national anthem moments before kick-off against Ghana.
Ronaldo was also seen embracing and high-fiving each and every one of the young mascots in the tunnel prior entering the field for the Group H opener.
Portugal have been tipped to be among the teams in the mix for World Cup glory with the country in the midst of a golden age of emerging talent.
Ronaldo heads up a side boasting the likes of Porto shot-stopper Diogo Costa as well as Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo of Manchester City.
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In attack, Ronaldo partners Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix, with former United teammate Bruno Fernandes occupying a deeper role.
Fernando Santos' side face Uruguay on Monday followed by a final group game against South Korea.
Qualification to the Round of 16 would see Ronaldo and co come head to head with one of Brazil, Serbia, Cameroon and Switzerland.
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