Superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to miss Portugal’s final international friendly against Nigeria on Thursday at the 50,000 -capacity Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon after suffering from a stomach bug.

The Manchester United forward who has been in the news in recent days over his criticism of the club, owner, the manager and ex-teammates Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville is said to be suffering from a stomach bug which saw him miss Wednesday’s training. 

The friendly for the Portuguese will serve as a proper preparation for the team who are billed to open their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign against Ghana next Thursday in a Group H fixture before slugging it out against Uruguay and South Korea for a spot in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Despite Ronaldo’s absence, the Super Eagles will still face a host of world class in-form players such as the Manchester City trio, Ruben Dias, Bernado Silva and Joao Canelo. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, AC Milan’s Rafael Leao and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.

Nigeria would however be without star striker, Victor Osimhen, but in-form Lorient striker, Terem Moffi, is expected to lead the line for the Eagles who missed the opportunity to be at the World Cup. 

Eagles manager, José Peseiro, has charged his ward to go all out against his country of birth. 

“Sincerely, I am wishing that this is a FIFA World Cup group stage match, because I tell you, that is the level at which Nigeria should be playing. Even though that is not the case, our objective is to go out there and win.

“It is good that we are playing big teams. I am enamoured by that, because this is good for the team and it will sharpen the team to achieve our goal of winning the next Africa Cup of Nations. We also have the opportunity to test a number of players.”