Michael Owen makes feelings clear about Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal star continues to wait for first goal at Euro 2024
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen shared his opinion on Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portugal captain is yet to net his first goal at Euro 2024. The 39-year-old forward created a record in his first match of the tournament by becoming the only player in history to have appeared in six UEFA European Championships.
In their two games at the Euro 2024 so far, Portugal beat Czechia 2-1 on June 18 and followed it up by defeating Turkey 3-0 on June 22.
During the Selecao's 3-0 win against Turkey, Cristiano Ronaldo equaled the record for all-time assists at the European Championship by assisting Bruno Fernandes, who scored the team's third goal in the 56th minute. The iconic player matched former Czech right winger Karel Poborský's eight assists in the tournament.
As the legend awaits his first goal at Euro 2024, Michael Owen shared his opinion and said (via Firstpost):
"If I was the manager of Portugal, I was in the European Championships finals tomorrow, and I would still have to play him. He’s still scoring incredible goals. He still sends shivers down the spine of anybody who’s out to play against him. He still rises to the big occasion. There’s nobody better on big occasions."
Expressing confidence in Cristiano Ronaldo's abilities on the pitch despite his age, Owen added:
“He scores big goals. You would expect to score those goals in a huge encounter. Some people think, “Oh he’s too old, he’s too slow,' or whatever they think nowadays, he’s still an incredible player. Given a chance, I would still have my money on him to score a goal."
Cristiano Ronaldo, who made his senior debut for Portugal in 2003, has scored 130 goals and provided 47 assists in 209 appearances for his nation.
Roberto Martinez answers question about Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Portugal's clash against Turkey at Euro 2024
In a pre-match press conference ahead of Portugal's Euro 2024 clash against Turkey at Signal Iduna Park, head coach Roberto Martinez was asked if Cristiano Ronaldo needed someone to help him attack. To this, the 50-year-old manager said (via O Jogo):
“I think Ronaldo had three shots scored, that's the most he's had so far. He was very disciplined, worked hard for us and is a very important scorer, he opens up spaces and created space for Chico in goal. He is very important for us in the area, but the important thing is to get there."
"Our team doesn't play directly or look for the striker quickly, so there's no need to play with long passes to the striker. We don’t need one player, we need five or six in the striker position," Martínez added.
Cristiano Ronaldo has led Portugal to glory at the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2018-19.