Ronaldo trains with Portugal teammates ahead of quarter final with Morocco

Cristiano Ronaldo has been pictured in training with his Portugal teammates - including substitutes - as they prepare for their World Cup quarter-final against Morocco.

The 37-year-old free-agent reportedly opted not to train with the substitutes on Wednesday - instead joining the first team for gym work - despite not starting their 6-1 last-16 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday.

All eyes are on Ronaldo, with manager Fernando Santos having a huge decision to make on Saturday, over whether to start Portugal's greatest ever player.

Similar to the end of his spell at Manchester United, Ronaldo is causing a stir with his international team in Qatar.

Portugal had to deny reports from the nation on Thursday which claimed he was ready to walk out on his country's World Cup squad after learning he had been dropped from their starting XI against Switzerland.

Ronaldo will hope to start against Morocco, though his replacement for the Switzerland game, Goncalo Ramos, staked his claim by scoring a stunning hat-trick.

Despite questions over his place in the team, pictures have shown Ronaldo looking as determined as ever as Santos puts his team through their paces in training.

Santos admitted before the Switzerland game that he 'didn't like' Ronaldo's angry reaction to getting substituted in their 2-1 group stage defeat to South Korea.

According to Marca, after failing to turn up to train with Portugal's substitutes, he instead went for a low-intensity gym session with the starters on Wednesday - despite playing less than 20 minutes against Switzerland.

While substitutes such as Rafael Leao and Ruben Neves were pictured doing ball work, Ronaldo was later snapped on the grass - but in trainers and doing resistance-band work separately. Antonio Silva, an used substitute, was also pictured doing gym work too.

It was understood the Portugal camp were 'surprised' not to see Ronaldo among the substitutes on the field, admitting that he did not feel any discomfort and was in perfect condition to train.

Santos' decision to drop the icon ended Ronaldo's streak of 31 matches started at major tournaments.

The Portuguese forward had not started an international match from the bench in a major competition since Euro 2008, which ironically came against the Swiss.

Reports in Portugal stated that after being told he would not start in the game, Ronaldo had a sit-down with Santos and made it clear he was unhappy with his decision not to play him - threatening to pack his bags and leave Qatar during a 'tense' conversation, the report claims.

Portugal later hit out at the rumours, saying Ronaldo 'builds up a unique track record every day at the service of the national team and the country, which must be respected and which attests to the unquestionable degree of commitment to the national team.'

In a tweet, Ronaldo also responded to the reports as he said: 'A group too close to be broken by outside forces. A nation too brave to let itself be frightened by any adversary. A team in the truest sense of the word, which will fight for the dream until the end! Believe with us! Strength, Portugal!''

The vast majority of Portugal fans do not want Ronaldo to return to Santos' starting line-up against Morocco, based on a survey carried out by the Portuguese media.

After carrying out a survey amongst the nation's fans, Portuguese newspaper A Bola found that an astonishing 93.6% of supporters want Ramos to lead the line against Morocco.

Ronaldo's girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez joined in his fury after watching 74 minutes of football without the striker on the pitch against Switzerland.

After the last-16 clash on Tuesday, Rodriguez took to social media to vent her frustration.

She said: 'What a shame we didn't get to enjoy the best player in the world for the 90 minutes. The fans haven't stopped claiming you and screaming your name.'

Portugal take on Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday, after the African nation dramatically knocked out Spain on penalties in the last 16.

Following his side's blistering performance against the Swiss, Santos could well keep his disgruntled superstar out of the starting line-up for the remainder of the tournament.

Ronaldo dramatically left Manchester United last month in the wake of his explosive bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, which heavily criticised the club's organisation, facilities and manager Erik ten Hag.

The forward's former Red Devils team-mate Gary Neville lay out some harsh truths to Ronaldo ahead of Portugal's last 16 tie.

He told ITV before kick-off: 'Well what happened at United, the suggestion was, it was because [Erik] Ten Hag was trying to make a move on him, he's trying to establish his authority.

'This is a manager [Santos] who's got an unbelievable relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo for eight years.

'And there are a lot of fans of Cristiano Ronaldo who aren't willing to tell him the truth. I think he does need to listen to the truth, that it's becoming a little bit of a scruffy end.

'The petulance, the stomping around, the sulking it's got to stop because it doesn't reflect well on him at all.'