"I admire Cristiano and people like him, with character and ambition. An example for everyone. With the talent and class he has, he can decide a game at any moment. I would prefer he didn't play, but I believe he will play and we will enjoy one of the best players in history, and we will try to be superior to him and to them," he said in a press conference at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, United States, which will host the match.

The Spanish coach stressed that no team can rest easy when facing a player like Ronaldo, but believes in his team's quality to stop him.

"With Cristiano, you can never be at ease. You can't give these kinds of brilliant footballers any leeway, but I have confidence in our defenders. We'll see who has more power in this fight; I believe we'll control all these situations," he argued.

Luis de la Fuente stressed that Spain and Portugal are two teams with very similar characteristics, expressing his desire to see the Portuguese team more concerned with the Spanish formation.

"Portugal is a great team. We want them to be more occupied with us, but we will try to stop them when we don't have the ball. I have a lot of confidence in all the players. They are two teams with very similar characteristics, who seek to recover the ball quickly and who like to have possession. It will be a game of details. With so many good players on the field, anyone can decide," he argued.

The game between Portugal and Spain is scheduled for 6 July, with English referee Anthony Taylor officiating, and is scheduled to start at 8 pm Lisbon time.