Czech international Karel Poborský wants Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo to start in Leipzig on Tuesday. He believes it would help the Czech Republic in their first game at the European Championship, as the 39-year-old Portuguese captain will not be able to cope with the demands of his young team-mates.
However, in an interview with CTK, the former Benfica player stressed that he considers the Portuguese team to be among the favourites for the title.
Madeira-born Cristiano Ronaldo played in his record sixth European Championship. He scored twice in the dress rehearsal against Ireland, taking his total to 130 goals in 207 international matches. Despite this, Poborský expects Ronaldo to start against the Czechs. “I’ve been saying for a long time that if he does, he’ll be one of Portugal’s weak links. The fans of both teams will be crazy about him, but at his age he’s not as good as his younger team-mates at building the game and putting pressure on. He would help our team more”, explains the Czech international.
“I don’t think Ronaldo himself realises that. I take my hat off to him for what he’s done, thanks to his enormous self-confidence, but you can’t stop age, he’s 39. We don’t know about coach Roberto Martínez, but it has been written that his predecessor, Fernando Santos, had this problem at the World Cup in Qatar”, Poborský points out.
“I expect the Portuguese to attack us right from the start. The tactics they choose, their willingness to run hard without the ball and their courage to attack quickly will be important, because even from a deep defensive block, a strong opponent can be a threat. Portugal are undoubtedly one of the three or four big favourites for the title.”