Norway national team head coach Ståle Solbakken attended Saturday's pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Portugal and addressed the notable topic of Ronaldo's absence.

Solbakken said: "In the first match, we prepared for both scenarios—Ronaldo playing and not playing. Now we are even more certain that we must be prepared for a situation without him. I think Portugal will make some adjustments. They have 25 or 26 players, with world-class talent in every position. They have many excellent players, and all of them are available."

"Portugal is currently one of the top two or three teams in Europe."

Solbakken stated: "I believe the first 60 minutes of our initial match against Portugal was one of our best performances. I hope we can replicate that this time. I think we played better in that match in Oslo, but unfortunately we couldn't secure a win."

"Now we're playing away, and we will try to control the game and see how far we can go. But we have great respect for the Portuguese national team. Currently, they are perhaps one of the top two or three teams in Europe."

"I am very satisfied with my team; we are optimistic. We will not adopt a low-block defense or similar tactics, but will continue with what we have been doing for the past two years."

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