FIFA World Cup 2018: Portugal Not Reliant On Cristiano Ronaldo, Coach Says

Ahead of their Group B clash with Morocco, Portugal head coach Fernando Santos hit out at suggestions that his team relied too much on Cristiano Ronaldo.

Portugal take on Morocco on Wednesday with a win over the African side likely to make them favorites to qualify from their group, having to play Iran in their final game.

The toughest game in the group of course came Friday against Spain as Ronaldo's hat-trick helped Portugal earn a priceless point in a 3-3 draw against the 2010 champions.

As far as the competition between him and Lionel Messi goes, Ronaldo has undoubtedly taken a huge lead. But when asked about the possibility of the Real Madrid man breaking the record for most goals in a World Cup, a record currently held by France's Just Fontaine when he scored 13 goals in 1958, Santos instead spoke about the team as a whole.

"Football is not an individual sport, it is a team sport. It is not just about Cristiano Ronaldo," Santos said, as per ESPN. "We are a team who wants to do well, not a sum of individuals who want to beat records. ... You know, we have 22 other players than Cristiano. We are the Portuguese national team and we have to beat Morocco. I hope Ronaldo does well in this game but one player has never won a game by himself."

Morocco would lose their group opener against Iran in a huge upset as a crushing 90th minute own goal from Aziz Bouhaddouz saw the Asian minnows steal the win. However, Santos is still wary of the threat they possess as he went on to praise them.

"[Morocco] are one of the best teams in Africa. They have a lot of experience with players who play in the best leagues in Europe. They are well organized with a lot of technical quality," he explained. "We will respect them. Nothing is done in this group so we will have to be strong and determined."

The former Greece coach also laughed off suggestions that Ronaldo's celebration after his first goal against Spain was alluding to himself being the greatest player of all time.

"In Portugal, it is a common gesture to touch your chin. It means that you are satisfied," he added.

Meanwhile, Morocco coach Herve Renard said the task at hand for his side is to make Wednesday's meeting a "less exceptional game" for Ronaldo but that does not mean he will attempt to man-mark the former Manchester United star.

"All I can say is that he's an exceptional player. That word may not even be enough," Renard told a news conference, as per FourFourTwo. "We must do everything to make it a less exceptional game for him. ... If we put three [players] on Ronaldo, I don't know how we would mark the others. They have so much attacking quality. We mustn't forget that we're facing the champions of Europe.