Ronaldo rested for final Portugal qualifier

Portugal will rest Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiago and Ricardo Carvalho for their last qualifier in Serbia on Sunday after Fernando Santos’ men sealed their place at Euro 2016.

The trio all featured as Portugal qualified with a 1-0 victory over Denmark in Braga on Thursday – Joao Moutinho’s second-half winner proving the difference.

Santos then confirmed in his post-match news conference that the three would be released for the final Group I clash against Serbia, who cannot qualify.

“I had been thinking before that if we won, we would make changes for the next game, because we recognise that, at this point in time, it would be a little tiring for some of the players,” he explained.

“I want to see and work with other players, so Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiago and Ricardo Carvalho have been released from the squad.”

Full-back Ricardo Pereira of Nice and Braga’s on-loan forward Rui Fonte have been called up as replacements.