Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo wants the Portuguese national anthem to be sung without any background music when his side face North Macedonia in their World Cup play-off match on Tuesday evening.
After beating Turkey 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday night, Portugal are just one game away from reaching the finals in Qatar. Goals from Otavio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes sealed a hard-fought win for the 2016 European Championship winners, meaning they are now on the brink of reaching a sixth successive World Cup.
However, they must find a way past a resolute and upbeat North Macedonia side who stunned Italy in their own semi-final on Thursday, winning 1-0. Aleksandar Trajkovski netted a superb 92nd-minute winner to seal a shock win over the current European champions and leave them to reflect on missing out on a second consecutive World Cup.
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Whilst Portugal will have home advantage, with more than 50,000 Portuguese voices expected to fill the Porto air, Ronaldo has issued a special plea for just ahead of kick-off. He wants the national anthem to be sung loud and proud without any music, suggesting that he wants Portuguese passion to take centre stage to help him and his teammates get over the line.
"I would like it if the anthem was sung in the stadium without any music," Ronaldo said. "This will show our determination and spirit. If they sing it like they did on Thursday then I am sure we will win."
Portugal missed out on automatic qualification for the tournament in Qatar by three points, losing their final group game to Serbia. However, despite experiencing such a late blow in their quest to qualify for the finals, Ronaldo insists confidence within the squad is high - but has warned his teammates that North Macedonia will present a stern test.
The Portugal captain continued: "The team is very confident and we are excited for the final. This is the game of our lives, just as with North Macedonia.
"The pressure is always there for us and we know it will be very difficult – North Macedonia are in this game because they deserve to be. They are really well organised and we will respect them, but if we play at our level then we can beat any side in the world."
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