The Portugal skipper is in line to
start against Germany on Monday
but after an injury-disrupted
campaign for Real Madrid there
are huge concerns over his fitness.
Cristiano Ronaldo is suffering a
degenerative knee condition called
tendinosis as well as a long-
standing thigh complaint. The
treatment for tendinosis
recommends, above all else, rest.
That is hardly what Portugal needs
to hear with the first game of the
World Cup against Germany
imminent.
There is no easy answer to the
question of when Ronaldo was
injured and when he will be fully
fit again. It is certainly true that
he will not be fully ready until his
body has rested, healed and
corrected itself.
Tendinosis is a condition that
results from overuse. In that sense,
there was no one incident that
caused this Ronaldo injury. Rather,
it is likely that there are many
micro-tears in the area around the
29-year-old's left patellar tendon
which Real Madrid could scarcely
afford to allow to heal.
Ronaldo has played only a limited
part in Portugal's preparations for
this World Cup. His training
sessions, often individually
tailored, have more been aimed at
allowing his body sufficient time to
recuperate. He has regularly
trained apart from the Portugal
squad with his own medical team
and has put limited pressure on
his left leg in his attempts to take
to the field on Monday.
