Cristiano Ronaldo to Play for Portugal in Nations League Finals

Portugal national team manager Fernando Santos has said Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo will "certainly" be selected for the UEFA Nations League finals, despite not playing in the group stage.

Per Sport TV (h/t BBC Sport), Santos said he understands why the 34-year-old took some time off after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, before returning for the Euro 2020 qualifiers in March:

"He has a constant appreciation and passion for his country. His absence in the qualifying stages was very well explained and was a totally legitimate and understandable decision. He explained us well. We understood that the best way was that he would not be with us in that period."

Ronaldo was absent for his country's four group games, of which the team won two and drew two against Poland and Italy to finish top of Group 3 by three points. He was rested for the 1-0 win over Italy in September, before missing the final three games in the wake of American woman Kathryn Mayorga telling German magazine Der Spiegel that the forward had raped her in 2009 in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Vegas police reopened an investigation into Mayorga's allegation at her request, though Ronaldo has publicly denied the allegations.

Portugal will host the finals, taking on Switzerland in the semi-finals on June 5. If they win, they'll face the winner of the match between England and the Netherlands on June 9.

Ronaldo is Portugal's all-time top scorer with 85 goals and has been among the most productive forwards in the sport over the last decade. Only Iran's Ali Daei has scored more international goals over the course of his career, per FourFourTwo.

He hasn't found the net for his country since the World Cup, though, after returning for Portugal's first two Euro 2020 qualifiers in March. The defending champions played out a scoreless draw against Ukraine and a 1-1 draw with Serbia.

Things have gone far better for Ronaldo at club level in the 2018-19 season. In his first campaign with Juventus, he has scored 21 Serie A goals, just four fewer than the league's top scorer, Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella.

His most recent strike came in the Derby della Mole, a 1-1 draw against Torino:

Ronaldo's highlight of the season came in March, when he fired Juventus past Atletico Madrid by scoring a hat-trick to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League tie:

The Champions League campaign eventually ended in disappointment, however, as Juventus were knocked out by Ajax in the quarter-finals. The former Manchester United star had won the three previous editions of the tournament with Real Madrid.

The inaugural Nations League finals will provide Ronaldo with an opportunity to win his third trophy of the season, after the Supercoppa and Serie A triumphs.