Ronaldo has knee problems again as France beat Portugal in friendly

Not even the return of Cristiano Ronaldo could arrest Portugal's ailing fortunes as new manager Fernando Santos watched his men defeated 2-1 by France in a friendly in Paris on Saturday.

Following their shocking loss to Albania in their first qualifier for Euro 2016, Santos, the replacement for Paulo Bento, had been looking for a bright start to his reign, only for goals from Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba to ruin the script at the Stade de France.

A 79th minute goal from Ricardo Quaresma offered late hope following a decent spell from the visitors but another defeat, after their ill-starred World Cup campaign, will have done nothing for morale as Portugal prepare to take on Denmark on Tuesday, seeking their first win of the qualifying campaign.

Even more surprisingly, perhaps, Ronaldo, back after missing the Albania debacle through injury, failed to hit the target after a prolific spell in La Liga which has been extraordinary even by his standards.

His best chance came in the 52nd minute when Portugal were a goal down but his header was superbly saved by Steve Mandanda. When Ronaldo was substituted in the 76th minute, the sight of him holding an ice pack to his left knee may have made Santos's misery complete.

Portugal were on the back foot from the moment after three minutes when Bacary Sagna shot across goal and the resultant save from Rui Patricio fell kindly for Ronaldo's Real Madrid club mate Benzema, who finished crisply.

In the 69th minute, the goalscorer turned provider, teeing up the Juventus powerhouse Pogba to slot home the second after a fine surging run down the flank from Patrice Evra.

When Pogba mistimed a challenge on Joao Mario, Quaresma gave Portugal hope as he smashed his penalty straight down the middle but ultimately it still could not prevent France continuing their winning streak against Portugal, which now stretches back 36 years.

Image: France's Raphael Varane (left) challenges Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (right) during their friendly match at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near Paris, on Saturday

Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters