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LEIPZIG, Germany : Leading a side stacked with talent and a flawless qualifying campaign under his belt, it is perhaps no wonder that Portugal boss Roberto Martinez made sure he packed enough shirts to last him all the way to the Euro 2024 final.
Portugal kick off their tournament with a Group F clash against the Czech Republic in Leipzig on Tuesday and few are predicting an upset for a side spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal were the only team to win all their qualifying games and they scored more goals than any other side (36) while boasting the best defensive record after conceding twice.
It would be a huge surprise if the Czechs, who won four of their eight qualifiers with two of those wins coming against the Faroe Islands, could muster a shock result.
With Turkey and Georgia making up the group, the Portuguese should sail into the knockouts, but Martinez has his eyes on a bigger prize.
“We must believe, we need to dream big,” he told reporters on Monday.
“If we don’t dream big, then it will be tough. But we also owe it to everyone to play well. Tomorrow will be the right time to show that we’re ready, that we can meet all the expectations… I brought seven shirts, not three. But now we need to put it all out there on the pitch for these first three matches.”
The 39-year-old Ronaldo remains their talisman and with 10 goals in qualifying continues to defy predictions that his career would peter out when he chose to leave Europe’s elite and ply his trade in Saudi Arabia.
Any suggestion that Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits in the Middle East were of questionable value and that his place in the Portugal squad was due to his reputation rather than his talent were promptly scotched by his manager.
“Cristiano is in the national team on merit. Nobody gets into the national team just by having a name. Cristiano scored 51 goals in 50 games (for Al-Nassr last season),” Martinez said.
“For us he is a goalscorer, someone who can make that final move, someone who can really stretch defenders, really open spaces. Obviously, over the years Cristiano 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.”
Portugal centre back Ruben Dias, however, had a more emotive take on Ronaldo’s impact on the squad.
“I would say he represents inspiration, he represents that everything is possible, he represents that you can dream and you can achieve it,” he said.
“It’s obviously a pleasure to have him with us in this moment of his career. He represents to us that he really wants to win again and he’s our captain and obviously we follow him to the end.”
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