Roberto Martinez: New Portugal Boss Reveals Plans for Ronaldo

• Portugal have replaced veteran coach Fernando Santos with ex-Belgium trainer Roberto Martinez
• Under his coaching leadership, Belgium were top of the FIFA world rankings for more than three years
• Ronaldo endured a frustrating World Cup, where he lost his starting berth to Goncalo Ramos as Portugal crashed out at the quarterfinal stage

Newly appointed Portugal manager Roberto Martinez has outlined his plans for Cristiano Ronaldo following his appointment.

Martinez's appointment comes 38 days after he stepped down from the same role at the Belgian national team, where he had spent the last six years.

The former Everton and Wigan Athletic boss replace veteran manager Fernando Santos and one of the most pressing issues in his in-tray will be to clarify the situation of skipper Ronaldo.

The 49-year-old manager has now outlined his vision for his new side, including Ronaldo’s role, stressing CR7 deserves respect.

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"The list of 26 players from the World Cup is my starting point and Cristiano is a player on that list, he has been with the national team for 19 years and he deserves the respect of being able to sit down and talk," Martinez said as quoted by Mirror.

Ronaldo currently holds the record for the most appearances in the history of Portugal, whilst he is also the nation’s record goal scorer with 118 strikes, per GOAL.

"From here, there are 54 players in the five biggest leagues who are under 28 years old, we have Benfica and FC Porto in the Champions League. In other words, my job is to give every player an opportunity and respect everyone who is already in the national team.

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Martinez continued: "From then on, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them. It is a natural process, work and responsibility and of making important decisions for the team."

Roberto Martinez named Portugal coach

Sports Brief earlier reported that Roberto Martinez has officially been appointed as the new head coach of Portugal's national team, after days of speculation.

Martinez takes over from Fernando Santos, who was sacked after a calamitous World Cup outing in Qatar that saw them exit at the hands of Morocco in the quarterfinals.

The Spanish head coach had a disappointing tournament himself with Belgium after they bowed out in the group stages. He then resigned from the position.