Portugal keep faith in ‘amazing’ captain Ronaldo

TIL Desk Sports/ Talismanic Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struggled against Croatia producing just one shot on goal, but coach Fernando Santos defended his “amazing” captain. “We want to strike a balance, of course. We want Ronaldo to shoot on target 15 times and score 10 goals, but our opponents won’t let us and that’s part of the game. In training and in games it is important every player plays their role,” Santos said. The Real Madrid striker enters Thursday’s Euro quarter-final one short of equalling France legend Michel Platini’s all-time European Championship goal mark of nine.

“Everybody talks about him and there is a reason for that,” said Santos. “Why? Because he is an amazing player, very, very good. People only talk about great players.” “There are hundreds of players here and we do not talk about them every day. It is normal to talk about Ronaldo, [Poland striker Robert] Lewandowski and [Germany goalkeeper Manuel] Neuer. They are amazing players. It is natural some are mentioned more than others, but we all know how to deal with that,” Santos added.

Portugal midfielder Adrien Silva acknowledged Ronaldo’s worth as teammate and captain, saying: “It is true that Ronaldo is very important for us. It is no use beating about the bush. But he is here with us, he has been in form, he scored but he also plays for the team, he is our captain and an amazing player. We should focus on the fact he is here with us.” There have also been concerns over the Stade Velodrome pitch, but Santos, whose country lost to France in the 1984 European Championship semi-final in Marseille, said it looked better than expected.