Pressure mounts as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal brace for underdogs Slovenia

FRANKFURT – Portugal’s talented squad led by captain Cristiano Ronaldo will be under scrutiny when they step onto the pitch in Frankfurt to face underdogs Slovenia in their Euro 2024 last-16 clash on July 1.

Despite finishing top of Group F with six points, Portugal stumbled to an unexpected defeat by lowly Georgia that raised many questions, after they arrived in Germany with high expectations as one of the favourites to win the title.

However, vice-captain Pepe insisted: “I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to look at the statistics from the group stage – Portugal are one of the best teams in terms of statistics.”

Even though the defeat came with Portugal fielding a second-string side, they were still led by Ronaldo and were never able to get a foothold against a Georgia team who seemed to enter every challenge as if it was their last.

Ronaldo, the only first XI player who was not rested for that match, has yet to find the net at Euro 2024.

But fellow elder statesman Pepe, 41, insisted: “Cristiano thrives on goals – that’s a fact. But have you seen how willing he is to help the national team on the pitch? It’s incredible.

“He’s the player with the most minutes in our team, aged 39. He’s doing very well. He’s going to be very good for this knockout phase.”

Georgia played with a deep back five, a defensive style that has been causing headaches for Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.

It was reminiscent of the match against the Czech Republic in their Euro opener, when Portugal had to dig deep to fight back and snatch a 2-1 victory with a stoppage-time winner.

It is also similar to the approach Slovenia are expected to adopt – a disciplined, deep back five who offer little space, with explosive counter-attacks from long balls.

In March, Portugal struggled against Slovenia, who gave Martinez his first defeat after 12 games in charge since taking over from Fernando Santos following a disappointing loss to Morocco in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.

Slovenia won 2-0 in Ljubljana in a friendly which saw Portugal have 65 per cent of possession but appear clueless on how to beat their rivals’ back five. They ended up getting caught in quick counters, much like they did against Georgia.

Said Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha: “They’re a very competitive team, one of the greatest surprises of this Euro. We had the chance to play a friendly match against them, so they’re a team we know well.”

Pepe added: “The most important thing is that when we attack against a team who are tough to break down, we have flexibility... It’s very difficult to attack against a team with a low block, and it’s up to us to... find the spaces in the game and exploit them.”

Martinez led Belgium's golden generation of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Vincent Kompany to No. 1 in the world and third place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Now, the Spaniard has a similar responsibility with Portugal and must help their skilled squad to reach their potential and shake off the underachiever tag that seems to dog them already. REUTERS