Portugal boss Roberto Martinez has praised Cristiano Ronaldo’s selfless assist in his side’s 3-0 win over Turkey on Saturday.
A Seleção das Quinas confirmed their place in the Euro 2024 knockout rounds with an excellent performance in Dortmund, with Bernardo Silva, a bizarre Samet Akaydin own goal and Bruno Fernandes doing the damage.
The latter can thank Ronaldo for one of the easiest goals he’ll ever have to score, with the former Man Utd, Real Madrid and Juventus forward breaking the offside trap to get behind the Turkish defence. However, whereas in years past we may have seen Ronaldo go for goal himself, the 39-year-old instead squared the ball to Fernandes, who applied a simple finish.
“I saw today something that is spectacular, to have Ronaldo, who is an out-and-out goalscorer, looking for the assist,” Martinez said of Ronaldo after the match (via BBC Sport).
“It is an example that should be shown in every academy in Portugal. The team is the most important thing and probably that assist means a lot more than any other goal.”
Martinez to ring the changes in final group match
With Portugal now confirmed in the knockout rounds and all but secure as group winners, they can head into Wednesday’s match against Georgia with the pressure off.
However, the 2016 champions have brought a squad to this tournament laced with quality, with the likes of Diogo Dalot, Goncalo Inacio, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix not even making the pitch on Saturday — the latter is yet to play a single minute at the tournament.
Martinez has revealed he intends to make a number of changes against Georgia, making sure everyone gets a chance to prove themselves and stay sharp.
“I think we played at the same level as we did against the Czechs and that’s very important. We scored first and that changed what Turkey could do,” said the Spaniard, adding: “We can face the third game with many players in the dressing room deserving to be in the starting XI. We should give them a chance to prove how competitive this squad can be.”
