Ronaldo in Portugal team on merit, insists Martinez

Roberto Martinez has defended the selection of Cristiano Ronaldo and hailed the importance of his Portugal captain ahead of his sixth European Championship.

Portugal begin their Euro 2024 campaign on Tuesday with a Group F match with Czech Republic (8pm, live on RTÉ2/Player) where talisman Ronaldo will make more history.

Al Nassr forward Ronaldo, fresh from scoring 51 goals in 52 appearances for club and country during the 2023-24 season, will play at a record-extending sixth Euros and has been backed to play a key role for Portugal.

The 39-year-old scored a brace in a 3-0 friendly victory over the Republic of Ireland last week.

Martinez said: “Cristiano is the only player who has played in five Euros and he will now play in six.

“His experience is very important to the dressing room, but we know there will be difficult times during the tournament and we need to see whether or not we have the quality to progress.

“Nobody gets in the national team by having a name.

“For us, Cristiano is a goalscorer, he is someone who can make the final move and can really stretch defenders to open spaces.

“Over the years Cristiano has changed his way of playing slightly, but Cristiano is in the national team on merit and the numbers are there to back that up.”

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Czech Republic captain Tomas Soucek talked up Ronaldo’s quality and feels Portugal can go all the way in Germany.

“Portugal is not only favourites in our group, but favourites to win the whole tournament,” the West Ham midfielder added.

“They have shown their quality in the past years. Obviously Ronaldo is the mega star. For the last 20 years he has been the biggest star in Portugal.”

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Meanwhile, Georgia boss Willy Sagnol urged his players to “focus” as they prepare for Tuesday’s other Euro 2024 clash, their Group F opener against Turkey in Dortmund (5pm, live on RTÉ2/Player).

Sagnol’s side will play at their first ever major international tournament following a penalty shootout victory over Greece in the play-offs in March.

Sagnol, one of the many names linked with the vacant Republic of Ireland job, admitted his players thought they were dreaming following qualification but are now ready to get down to business for their curtain-raiser on Tuesday.

He said: “For some players after the March play-offs it has been a bit difficult to get back into their daily routine because they have lots of emotions and they had a feeling they were living a dream but the dream has to stop at some point and they have to focus again.

“It’s something we talked about with the players at the start of the camp. At the beginning of the camp it was difficult but now the players are ready for the competition and focus on their performance and their discipline.”

Turkey finished above Croatia and topped their group in qualifying but have failed to win in their last five fixtures heading into the competition.

They have qualified for their third successive European Championships but have failed to get out of the group stage on their two previous occasions and lost all of their games in Euro 2020.

Manager Vincenzo Montella said: “I have studied Georgia very well, it’s a very tough team because they can concede ball possession but they are great in turnovers and are very physical.

“It’s a tough match and I think we will need to be patient, avoid losing ball organisation and to hit at the right moments so I have a lot of respect for this team.

“We need to care about the team, have a responsibility because we represent an important country.”

Watch every game from Euro 2024 on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player as well as highlights and goals as they happen on RTÉ Sport digital platforms