Julius OkorieHistory making Cristiano Ronaldo begins his 6th European Championship campaign today, as Portugal takes on Czechia in Leipzig.
Ronaldo, who will become the first to play at six European Championships, was dropped by former coach Fernando Santos, during Portugal’s last major tournament appearance at the 2022 World Cup, prompting suggestions that he could quit international football.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelSince the tournament in Qatar, Ronaldo has left Europe to play his club football with Al Nassr, in Saudi Arabia. But after scoring 50 goals for Al Nassr last season, the 39-year-old has been picked for Euro ’24 in Germany and Martinez said he deserves his spot.
“Cristiano is in the national team on merit,” Martinez told a news conference on ahead of Portugal’s opening Group F game against Czech. “Nobody gets into the national team by just having a name. Cristiano scored 50 goals in 51 games consistent with his club in his league and he scored nine goals in our qualification rounds.
“He’s a goal scorer and for us he’s someone who can make that final move. He can stretch defences and open spaces. Over the years he 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.”
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There are strong indications that Ronaldo could start against Czechia in Leipzig after proving his fitness by playing 90 minutes in the final warmup game against Ireland. He scored twice in a 3-0 win to take his international goal tally 130 in 207 appearances for the national team.
“He represents inspiration, he represents that everything is possible,” teammate Rúben Dias said of Ronaldo. “He represents that you can dream and you can achieve it. He represents a lot of things, but mainly I would like to say that it’s a pleasure to have him with us.
“More than all these little things, him being with us in this moment of his career, he shows that he really wants to win again. He’s our captain and we follow him until the end.” In the second match of the Group F today, Turkey will take on Georgia
Turkey’s best-ever performance in a European Championship came back in 2008, when they reached the semi-finals of the competition, but they were eliminated in the group stage of both Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.
The Crescent-Stars will be expecting to pick up enough points to progress to the round of 16 from this section, though, and they will be the favourites to overcome Georgia on matchday one.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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