Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo is "not concerned'' by his ongoing struggles for Portugal despite not scoring in a competitive international for two years.
Ronaldo has been accused of failing to perform for his country as well as he does for his club. That has intensified recently with the prolific Real Madrid forward enduring a barren spell for Portugal, which continued in last week's goalless draw with the Ivory Coast in their World Cup opener.
Carlos Queiroz's side take on North Korea in Cape Town on Monday in their second Group G clash desperate to secure victory but Ronaldo - whose last competitive goal was at Euro 2008 - has attempted to play down the pressure he is under.
"I haven't scored in two years for Portugal,'' he said. "I hope to score tomorrow. I'm not concerned with that aspect, the goals will come, today, tomorrow or in a few years' time. I have faith in my coach and my team-mates and if I don't score, it's not the end of the world.
"I've always scored goals and they will come at the right time. I'm not frustrated. I feel very good, I'm happy. The atmosphere in the squad is brilliant, to be honest. Maybe I'll score tomorrow, I don't know.''
Ronaldo will take on North Korea without Deco, who has been ruled out with a left hip problem which should be cured by the time Portugal face Brazil. Queiroz has no other injury concerns ahead of the match and is likely to call upon Tiago or Simao Sabrosa to take Deco's place.
"Our medical team this morning assessed Deco's situation, he didn't train with us and he will not be able to play for us tomorrow, but we want to prepare him to play against Brazil,'' said the coach.
Queiroz has called on referees to "protect'' the likes of Ronaldo, after his star man was booked against the Ivory Coast despite seemingly being the victim of a foul rather than the culprit. He said: "It's normal that this happens at club and national team level, that our most creative players are sometimes fouled more frequently.
"I hope that the number of fouls in this particular case is limited and this obviously depends on the referee. This referee (Chile's Pablo Pozo) should obviously protect the best attacking players.
"It's an important game, it's all or nothing as far as we're concerned and the players are aware of this. There is only one result we're interested in and that is to win.''
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