Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 7y

Cristiano Ronaldo silent about future after Portugal's Confed Cup win

Cristiano Ronaldo remained silent on his Real Madrid future after taking no questions during a postmatch news conference following his Man of the Match award in the wake of Portugal's 1-0 Confederations Cup victory against Russia in Moscow.

Ronaldo scored the only goal of the game with a first-half header to send the European champions to the top of Group A and all but secure a place in next week's semifinals.

After dominating the game in the Spartak Stadium, Ronaldo was named as the sponsors' man of the match, which obliged the former Manchester United star to attend a news conference after the final whistle.

Yet with speculation swirling around his Real future, the 32-year-old added further uncertainty by failing to address the matter with a clear statement, choosing instead to talk only about the game against Russia as he'd done following Portugal's draw against Mexico on Sunday.

"I'm very happy," Ronaldo said. "We knew it was going to be a difficult game against a very strong team.

"It's the first time Portugal have won in Russia and I think the team played very well. We played against a team playing at home with a home crowd, a team that pressured us but we were better.

"We had more opportunities than Russia and we were just winners. We have four points and we have to congratulate the team."

With that, Ronaldo smiled, stood up from his seat and left the room.

The Portugal captain's refusal to take questions was raised with coach Fernando Santos, who was dismissive of the inquiries from the media.

"Do you think he should answer questions from issues outside the game?" Santos said. "He is here to talk about the game, full stop, not about his life and his family.

"I understand you are curious, but you have to respect and have an understanding -- and I'm saying this with a good feeling.

"You will have other opportunities. I think he did very well in not answering other questions."

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