Ronaldo limps out of Portugal training

Cristiano Ronaldo left training with ice on his troublesome left knee on Thursday but Portugal team-mate Joao Moutinho dismissed concerns.

Moutinho claimed that the ice was ‘normal’ procedure as Ronaldo continues to recover from tendonitis in his left knee, while the Real Madrid attacker is also carrying a thigh injury.

Portugal will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Germany in Group G on June 16 and Ronaldo was widely expected to start after playing over an hour in his country’s final pre-tournament friendly against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old’s prospects of playing in Salvador seemed to crumble on Thursday when photos emerged of him leaving the training pitch with ice strapped to his left knee but Moutinho was unfazed at his press conference afterwards.

“He has trained nearly 100 percent and has been well,” the 27-year-old midfielder said.

“Using ice at the end? Others have also done this, it is normal in this type of situations.”

Photos from the training session show Ronaldo joking with his team-mates before the ice incident, while media reports out of Brazil claimed he returned later, although he did not take part in any ball or contact work.