Football
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Cristiano Ronaldo won't 'sound the alarm' after Portugal draw with Mexico

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo insists there is no reason to be alarmed by their opening draw in the Confederations Cup.

A stoppage-time header by Hector Moreno saw Mexico equalise to make it 2-2 after Portugal thought they had won it with Cedric Soares' deflected shot four minutes from time.

The result handed the early initiative in group A to hosts Russia, winners over New Zealand on Saturday.

However, with two teams qualifying for the semifinals from the four-team pool and Russia up next, Ronaldo is confident the European champions can quickly improve their fortunes,

"It was not the result we wanted, the team had almost won and we suffered in the last minutes, but this is football,'' said Ronaldo, who is under more scrutiny than usual playing for his country after it emerged on Friday he wants to quit Real Madrid and leave Spain as a result of an investigation into his tax affairs.

"The team continue to believe in qualification, we have great possibilities, because there are still two games left.''

Ronaldo added in his post-match interview: "We are calm and we have to think about the next game. We have to win, because if we win the next game we will be one step away from qualifying.

"We do not have to sound the alarm.''

Meanwhile, Portugal boss Fernando Santos rued the concession of a late equaliser.

"We played a team that has very good, technical players. At the beginning we couldn't enjoy good control of the ball but then we managed to balance things out and could have won it in the end,'' he said.

"In the end the result was fair as Mexico also played well''.

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