Cristiano Ronaldo is ready for the Euro, where Portugal will try to replicate their surprising win of 2016. They will face Hungary, Germany, and France in a challenging group. The Juventus striker talked to the press late on Thursday, as transcribed by Sky Sport.
“I have tremendous motivation, just like in 2004. I will play in this tournament as if it was my first one. It is not worthy to make promises or predictions. We will try to win in every game. We are the defending champions, and we are once again candidates to take home to the trophy, even if we will face few difficult matches, and we respect every national team.”
Ronaldo scored his 104th goal with Portugal in Wednesday’s friendly against Israel. He will try to break the all-time record as the top scorer for a national team during the Euro. It currently belongs to Ali Daei, who hit the net 109 times with Iran.
In the same group, France are dealing with another small injury to one of their strikers. Antoine Griezmann has picked up calf contusion and, like Karim Benzema, is not 100 percent heading into the heavyweight clash against Germany. They both missed practice Thursday. Leon Goretzka is a long shot for the first bout as well due to a thigh injury.
Paul Pogba has denied tensions in the group after an apparent spat between Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé: “There has always been a great atmosphere within us. Nothing happened between them, maybe just a misunderstanding, I do not sense any electricity.” The PSG star was reportedly irked because Giroud stated after a recent friendly: “Sometimes you make a run, but the ball does not arrive.” He was reportedly not allowed to address the remark publicly afterward. The two forwards were pictured hugging very quickly in practice.