Cristiano Ronaldo branded Portugal's 'weak link' before Euro 2024 opener vs Czech Republic
Cristiano Ronaldo is preparing to play in his 11th major tournament for Portugal (Getty)
Karel Poborsky has labelled Cristiano Ronaldo as one of Portugal’s ‘weakest links’ ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against Czech Republic on Tuesday evening.
Ronaldo is set to play in his 11th major tournament for Portugal having first featured for his national side at Euro 2004.
The 39-year-old finished this season in the Saudi Pro League scoring 50 goals in 51 appearances for Al-Nassr.
But for Portugal, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward faces strong competition for a starting place in attack alongside Liverpool’s Diogo Jota, Paris Saint-Germain’s Goncalo Ramos and Joao Felix, who has just spent the season on loan at Barcelona.
And Poborsky, who made 118 appearances for Czech Republic and played at three European Championships, believes his national side will have an advantage if Ronaldo starts Portugal’s opening game at Euro 2024.
‘I have been saying for a long time that in that case he will be one of their weakest links,’ Poborsky told The Czech News Agency.
Karel Poborsky says Cristiano Ronaldo will be a ‘weak link’ for Portugal (AP)
‘The fans of both teams will go crazy for him, but at his age he is not as good for building the game and pressing as his younger teammates. So our team would rather him start.
‘Hats off to him for what he has achieved – thanks to his enormous self-confidence. But you can’t stop age, he is 39.
‘We don’t know how he is with coach Roberto Martinez, but it was written about before that his predecessor Fernando Santos already encountered a problem at the World Cup in Qatar.’
Despite his belief that Ronaldo will hinder Portugal, Poborsky still considers Roberto Martinez’s side one of the favourites to win the tournament.
‘I expect the Portuguese to attack us again right from the start. The chosen tactics, the willingness to run a lot without the ball and also the courage to quickly switch to the attack, because a strong opponent can be threatened even from a deep defensive block,’ Poborsky said.
‘Portugal is one hundred percent among the three, four the biggest favorites of the championship.’
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