Ronaldo free to link up with United, recaptures No 7 shirt

By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer

Cristiano Ronaldo has been released from Portugal’s squad and that frees the forward to join up earlier than expected with new club Manchester United. Ronaldo became the highest-scoring player in the history of men’s international soccer by netting his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal in a 2-1 win over Ireland in a World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday. He also got booked in that match. That means he has to miss the qualifier against Azerbaijan on Tuesday through suspension. As a result Portugal has allowed Ronaldo to leave the squad after he carried out recovery work early Thursday.