In Cristiano Ronaldo’s Absence, Who Can Step Up for Portugal vs. Norway?

You may have noticed, but Cristiano Ronaldo has other plans this weekend.

While Portugal’s talisman will be donning the white of Real Madrid and battling Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final at the San Siro in Milan on Saturday, his compatriots are going to be preparing to take on Norway in a pre-UEFA Euro 2016 friendly at FC Porto’s Estadio do Dragao on Sunday evening.

When one player is as important to the cause as Ronaldo is to Portugal’s, such exercises end up having a feeling of futility around them. A Ronaldo-led Portugal is a different animal to a Portugal without him, but as the country has found out in previous tournaments, relying so much on one man is often not the way to go.

But backed up by a strong UEFA European Championship record this century—semi-finalists in 2000 and 2012 and finalists in 2004—manager Fernando Santos should be looking for just how his squad can function without the man who hogs the limelight when they face the Norwegians.

Because—and this would perhaps be frowned upon in Portugal—Santos could be considering playing one of his side’s group-stage matches without his captain, particularly because they look to have received the kindest draw they could have got.

Opening against Iceland in Saint-Etienne, the Seleccao then face impressive qualifiers Austria in Paris …

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