Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, left, and Portugal’s Pepe warm up prior of a Group F match between Turkey and Portugal at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Hitting back at critics questioning Ronaldo’s goalscoring potential, veteran centre-back Pepe opined that Ronaldo wouldn’t disappoint Portugal fans and would do well in the knockouts of the continental championship.
Portugal’s veteran centre-back Pepe hailed massive praise on Cristiano Ronaldo’s impact on the team in Euro 2024. Long time best friends, Pepe and Ronaldo have shared the national team locker room for decades. The duo even enjoyed a nine-year stint together at Real Madrid. Pepe has never shied away from voicing his opinions on his compatriots.
Hitting back at critics questioning Ronaldo’s goalscoring potential, Pepe said this during Friday’s news conference as per ESPN – “Cristiano lives off goals, that’s a fact…But have you seen his availability on the pitch to help the national team? It’s incredible. He’s the player with the most minutes in our team, at 39 years old.”
Ronaldo is competing in his record-sixth European Championship. He has started in all of the three games for Portugal in Germany. The Roberto Martinez-coached side won both of their opening games against Turkey and the Czech Republic. They conceded a shocking 0-2 defeat to Georgia in their final game of the group stage. The surprising factor here is that Ronaldo wasn’t on the scoresheet in any of these games. The leading international goalscorer has only recorded an assist in the UEFA tournament, sparking criticism from fans and media. However, Pepe revealed he was confident in Ronaldo stepping up for the team in the knockout phase.
Pepe was certain that Ronaldo wouldn’t disappoint Portugal fans. He said, “He’s [Ronaldo] doing very well…He’ll do very well in the final stages of the European Championship. I’m certain he will give us a lot of joy.”
The FC Porto defender also spoke on how the team knew that the tournament wasn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park. Speaking about the Georgia game, he said, “We knew that this journey would not be easy, no matter how many of you said it was already won…It’s not like that and we knew it. You have to play 90 and, if necessary, 120 minutes. We want to do our best for our country and that’s what we’re going to do in the next game.”
Ronaldo was in stellar form in the 2020 edition of the UEFA Euros. He finished as the joint-topscorer of the tournament alongside Romelu Lukaku. Despite, Ronaldo boasting some brilliant form in that tournament, Portugal crashed out in the Round of 16 stage. They lost 0-1 to Belgium with Thorgan Hazard scoring the only goal in the match. As for the ongoing campaign, Portugal will face Slovenia in their first knockout game. The match will take place at the Deutsche Bank Park on July 2.
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