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Indian football icon Sunil Chhetri praised Cristiano Ronaldo’s movement in Portugal’s opening Euro 2024 game against Czechia, saying that his runs are “annoying” for defenders to mark.
Chhetri said on the Football Extraaa show on Sony Sports Network ahead of Portugal’s encounter with Turkey:
“I think his movements were outstanding [in the last game]. For me he is the best because sometimes he will come to take the ball on his feet and sometimes he will do the deep runs, which is so annoying for the defenders to mark.”
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Although he was unable to score, Ronaldo showed glimpses of his best against Czechia at the Leipzig Stadium on Tuesday. Portugal got their campaign underway with a 2-1 win after coming back from 1-0 down.
The Al-Nassr forward had three shots on target and created two chances. He also headed a cross onto the crossbar late in the game, with Diogo Jota scoring from the rebound. However, the veteran was in an offside position and the goal was ruled out.
Chhetri also backed Cristiano Ronaldo to open his Euro 2024 scoring account against Turkey, and called him the “best player in the world.”
“Ronaldo will score, Portugal win [is my prediction]. Very cliche, but I’m backing him to score. Amidst all the controversy, [I feel] the best player in the world will score,” Chhetri said.
The two sides face off at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday, June 22.
Sunil Chhetri backing Harry Kane for Euro 2024 Golden Boot ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Indian captain Sunil Chhetri has backed England striker Harry Kane to win the Euro 2024 Golden Boot ahead of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and France’s Kylian Mbappe.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring prowess has waned with age, he remains one of the players to watch out at the tournament. The former Real Madrid forward is coming off a 44-goal season with Al-Nassr in 45 games across competitions. He also broke the Saudi Pro League’s single-season scoring record with 35 strikes in 31 games.
However, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe were two of the best marksmen in Europe last season. They scored 44 goals each across competitions with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
Chhetri believes the younger players are at a better position to finish as top scorer at Euro 2024. He told Sportskeeda:
“I would pick Harry Kane, another player who can win [the golden boot] is Kylian Mbappe because chances of him playing more games are there. Purely on probability basis, [I'll choose] Kane since he plays for a team in which he is going to get a lot of supply.”
“There are many other top players you can pick, Ronaldo is one of them. You can never bet against Ronaldo, the whole world knows it but [I'll still choose] Kane,” he added.
Kane has already scored one goal at Euro 2024, netting England's opener in their 1-1 draw against Denmark.
