Portugal coach preparing for Olympics without Ronaldo

Portugal’s Olympic coach does not expect Cristiano Ronaldo to turn out for his country at Rio 2016.

The Real Madrid superstar would be eligible to feature at the Games as one of three over-aged players allowed in squads for the under-23 tournament.

Ronaldo, 31, will make his latest bid for an elusive major honour at international level when he travels to France with Fernando Santos’ Euro 2016 squad next month.

But Rui Jorge, who will take charge of the younger team in Brazil, is not holding out much hope of having Ronaldo among his options.

“We do not yet know exactly about the three players over 23, we will wait, but I don’t believe Cristiano Ronaldo will be there,” he told Lance.

“We are not thinking about that. Of course he is one of the two best players in the world. Any club or country could use his contribution.”

The Olympic football tournament at Rio 2016 runs from August 3-20, with La Liga’s 2016-17 season set to begin on the latter date.

“Even though the dates are not incompatible, it could produce an overload, a lack of holidays,” Rui Jorge added.

On Thursday, Colombian Football Federation president Ramon Jesurun confirmed Ronaldo’s Madrid team-mate James Rodriguez would not take part in the Olympics.