It’s Portugal’s first match of the Euros which means one thing: It’s Cristiano Ronaldo time.
As ever, not that he’ll mind, the side’s record goalscorer will likely be the focus of attention to see (i) whether, after more than a year in the footballing backwater of Saudi Arabia (let’s face it, that’s still what it is…), he is still a match-winner at the highest level, and, (ii) whether he can inspire a talented squad to their second triumph in the competition, and, (iii) whether he’ll start (unlikely he won’t).
Such is the strength in depth of Portugal that it may come as a slight surprise to see someone plying their trade in front of small crowds and against middle-of-the-road defenders a likely starter. But it’s CR7 (as all the kids call him…) we’re talking about here and Roberto Martinez may well have decided that keeping him in the starting XI makes his job a lot easier/is the path of least resistance.
The manager has rubbished suggestions that Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits in the Middle East (51 goals in 50 games for Al-Nassr last season) were of questionable value, and said his place in the squad was more than justified.
“Cristiano is in the national team on merit. Nobody gets into the national team just by having a name,” Martinez said.
“For us he is a goalscorer, someone who can make that final move, someone who can really stretch defenders, really open spaces. Obviously, over the years Cristiano has changed his way of playing slightly, but I can only say that Cristiano is in the national team on merit and the numbers are there to back that up.”
The last time most of us saw Ronaldo was at the World Cup 18 months ago. He started that tournament by hogging the limelight thanks to his interview with his No.1 fanboy Piers Morgan, and ended it starting on the bench for the two knockout matches against Switzerland and Morocco.
Obviously since then he’s forced his way back into the starting XI (the sight of him sulking on the subs bench seemingly doesn’t appeal to Martinez) and was the side’s leading scorer in the qualifiers with 10 goals. And centre back Ruben Dias is glad he’s back.
“I would say he represents inspiration, he represents that everything is possible, he represents that you can dream and you can achieve it,” the Man City man said.
“It’s obviously a pleasure to have him with us in this moment of his career. He represents to us that he really wants to win again and he’s our captain and obviously we follow him to the end.”
Stay here to find out how Ronaldo and Portugal do, for all the team news and action, with kick-off set for 8pm.
