Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted off with a right leg injury in Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifying match against Serbia on Monday.
Ronaldo pulled up after sprinting down the touchline in the 31st minute at Estadio da Luz and immediately signaled for a replacement. The 34-year-old sat by the sideline and removed the captain’s armband before doctors arrived and treated what appeared to be his right hamstring.
Ronaldo, who walked off on his own and remained on the team bench, had been playing with a bloody gauze in his nose.
“I am not worried, I know my body. It happens, it’s football … I am fine because I know I will come back in one or two weeks,” Ronaldo said of the injury after Monday’s 1-1 draw.
It was only Ronaldo’s second appearance for the national team since the World Cup last summer in Russia. The former Real Madrid talisman and five-time Champions League winner later made a high-profile switch to Italian giants Juventus.
“I would have liked to have been at [Portugal’s] other games. It has been eight months because I needed time for myself. It was a big move in my life, I switched clubs, for my family and children too, I needed to time to adapt,” Ronaldo said. “I missed the national team, but sometimes we have to think in ourselves and it was the best decision.”
Juventus is back in Serie A action on Saturday against Empoli, and will take on Ajax on April 10 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.