Portugal: Deschamps fears Cristiano Ronaldo

The French coach believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is still capable of causing serious harm to his team.

France will face Portugal this Friday in the quarter-finals of the Euro. To go through, Les Bleus will have to neutralize the danger posed by Cristiano Ronaldo. The latter may not be in the best form of his career but he still represents a threat. Didier Deschamps, the French boss, agrees.

Ronaldo remains ‘a threat’

At a press conference on Thursday, DD indicated that he continued to be wary of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. “Yes, he is a threat on the offensive side. He still has this ability to be decisive and to score goals. He has that and he will keep that. Obviously, he has gotten older, but he will remain a great competitor,” he confided.

Deschamps knows what Ronaldo is capable of, but his main concern remains Portugal’s collective play.
“This selection is one of the best European teams and it will be a big match.”

Deschamps does not want to compare teams

And when asked who will have the ball in this match, his response was: “It’s a balance of power. This team prefers to attack than to defend. The Netherlands had been relatively cautious, Belgium too. Will Portugal be too? I know what Roberto Martinez likes to do. We will try to have as much control as possible.”

Finally, when asked if this year’s Portugal is stronger than the one in 2016 that won the Euro at his team’s expense, Deschamps replied: “The 2016 final? It was strong, it was 8 years ago. It was painful. I don’t know if it’s stronger or weaker. We’re in the quarter-finals. The best are here.”