Some Kiwi defenders may have been waking up with a hint of trepidation this morning at the thought of marking Ronaldo at next year's Confederations Cup.
Portugal won the European Championships in spectacular fashion this morning, edging the much fancied France 1-0 in the final and will now travel tothe Confederations Cup in Russia to possibly face off against New Zealand.
Russia, Germany, Australia, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal have now qualified for the tournament which is still awaiting its eighth entrant, the winner of the African Cup of Nations played in February next year.
All teams will play three games in the group stages, before the top two from each group of four will progress to the semi-finals.
The draw is scheduled to take place on 26 November 2016.
The last time New Zealand played at the Confederations Cup in 2009 they had a mixed campaign. A 17 minute Fernando Torres hattrick opened the floodgates to a 5-0 loss in their opener against Spain before a spirited 0-0 draw with Iraq earned the All Whites their first point at a major tournament and laid the platform for an unbeaten 2010 World Cup campaign.
New Zealand results at 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa:
New Zealand 0 Spain 5 New Zealand 0 South Africa 2 New Zealand 0 Iraq 0
