Man Utd crock Nani left out of Portugal squad

Manchester United winger Nani has been left out of Portugal's squad for the decisive World Cup Group F qualifiers against Israel and Azerbaijan after picking up a hamstring injury in Sunday's FA Cup clash with Chelsea.



Coach Paulo Bento handed a debut call-up on Thursday to 27-year old Wolfsburg winger Vieirinha in a 23-man squad that will play in Tel Aviv on Friday, March 22, and then in Baku four days later.



Portugal have failed to win their last four matches. In the last, they succumbed to a painful 3-2 defeat in a friendly against Ecuador in Guimaraes in February.



Bento: "We cannot get caught up on the past and what happened in the last four matches. This (Israel) is an important one although getting to first place in the group no longer depends solely on us,"



Squad:



Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio (Sporting), Eduardo (Istanbul BB), Beto (Sevilla).



Defenders: Joao Pereira (Valencia), Bruno Alves (Zenit St Petersburg), Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid), Silvio (Deportivo la Coruna), Pepe (Real Madrid), Luis Neto (Zenit St Petersburg), Sereno (Valladolid).



Midfielders: Raul Meireles (Fenerbahce), Miguel Veloso (Dynamo Kiev), Joao Moutinho (Porto), Custodio (Braga), Carlos Martins (Benfica), Paulo Machado (Olympiakos).



Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg), Silvestre Varela (Porto), Vieirinha (Wolfsburg), Pizzi (Deportivo la Coruna), Helder Postiga (Zaragoza), Hugo Almeida (Besiktas).

Ref insists Nani red was right

The referee who controversially sent-off Manchester United winger Nani in their 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday has claimed he still believes he made the right decision.



Cuneyt Cakir showed the Portuguese international the red card for a foul on Alvaro Arbeloa 11 minutes into the second-half with United 1-0 up on the night and leading 2-1 on aggregate.



However, two goals in 13 minutes after the incident swung the tie decisively in Madrid's favour and left United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and many of his players furious at the final whistle.



"I feel fine and don't doubt my decisions," the Turkish official told Spanish sports daily AS.



"The red card shown to Nani was correct. The world will recognise the truth with time."



Since Tuesday some of Cakir's previous decisions that have also affected English clubs in European competition have been questioned.



The 36-year-old also sent-off Chelsea captain John Terry in their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona last season and Mario Balotelli whilst the Italian was playing for Manchester City against Dynamo Kiev in 2011.



However, he insists all those decisions were also correct.



"In the previous matches with English teams there was no unjust decision.



"What decision was incorrect? The red shown to Terry or Balotelli? I don't think I have made a mistake in showing cards or sending players off."



Cakir insisted though that the furore won't affect him moving forward.



"I doesn't make me very sad, I just don't think about it.



"I have received more criticism on previous occasions, but I have always got back up and come back.



"I can do so again. I try to do my job correctly and I am doing well. I need to continue like this. I do my job perfectly."