Ronaldo cites ‘heat of moment’ after left off Manchester United squad list Brazil international and current Manchester United winger Ricardo Quaresma has been left off the 23-man squad for the forthcoming Champions League semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Super Cup.
Ricardo Quaresma has been left off Manchester United’s 23-man squad for Tuesday’s first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Super Cup.
Having begun his career in Brazil, the 28-year-old scored six goals for Palmeiras in South America’s most significant league, the Copa Libertadores, and earned a move to English side West Ham United in the summer of 2008. But he has struggled to adapt to English football, having scored just 9 goals for the London club in all competitions.
“I’m sad I’m not even playing, but I’ll be happy for my family,” Quaresma told ESPN Brasil. “I’m not looking to score goals, I look to score assists.”
“I just missed the feeling of the heat of moment,” he said. “I was close, very close. There are many ways. There are many ways to score goals.”
Manchester United are at home against Paris Saint-Germain, and Quaresma was the only member of the team to have been left out Tuesday night of those on the 23-man squad who will face PSG in the Uefa Super Cup.
Asked Tuesday how it felt to be left off when Quaresma was, instead, the only player who felt the “heat of the moment,” Mourinho said: “I’m disappointed. This is the third time in four years that we have missed out. But for us to get to the semi-finals after that we need to have this kind of chance.
“If you have the heat of the moment, you have the chance,” he said. “The team gives the players the chance to have that, and I agree with the coach [Ronald Onana] that we’ve got to do it all the time.
“You can be a top player in the world, but if the club doesn’t have the heat of the moment, we don’t have the chance to go for it, and that’s what happened to Quaresma.”
Quaresma, who holds a Brazilian passport, has not played for