THE SPECTRE OF RONALDO HOVERS OVER EURO GAME
Poland tries to undermine impact of Portugal striker, writes Kurtis Larson.
Knowing Cristiano Ronaldo, he’ll probably take Adam Nawalka’s reluctance to mention him as some kind of slight.
Poland’s manager said Wednesday night he preferred not to talk about the Real Madrid star, adding Portugal, as a team, poses a bigger threat overall when they meet up Thursday in quarterfinal action at Euro 2016.
Perhaps Nawalka just didn’t want to be another parrot, offering the same old pre-match statements about one of the greatest players of a generation. Either that, or he hasn’t been paying attention.
“I don’t even want to mention Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s one of the best in the world,” Nawalka said in Marseille on Wednesday. “Football is a team game. No one player can decide the outcome of a match.”
He’s wrong, of course. Portugal’s sixth straight appearance in a Euro quarter-final has nothing to do with Portugal, the team. Ronaldo’s literally the only reason they’re still in this thing. Period.
The left post inside Parc des Princes is the only think keeping Ronaldo from the Golden Boot lead. Never mind the fact he single-handedly carried Portugal through a must-not-lose match against Hungary, scoring twice.
If this is Ronaldo in decline, Poland doesn’t want to see him in form. That’s Nawalka’s conundrum. An open game favours a Portuguese side that prefers to get out and run. It’s how they knocked off Croatia to get this far.
“Portugal have top-class players throughout their team and we have to also focus on them,” Nawalka said. “But what is clear is, when they recover possession, they counter very well. They’re a dangerous team.”
If you’re Nawalka, though, you’ll likely regret not pursuing an open match given Poland boasts arguably the best pure striker in the world. Robert Lewandowski has yet to be heard from in this tournament.
The fact Lewandowski has been fouled more times than anyone at this Euro has compounded the issue.
“Given that he’s one of the best strikers, he’s been marked tightly — double and triple teams,” Nawalka said of the Bayern Munich player. “They are attacking him all the time. But he has prepared well. Physically, he’s coping.’’
Portuguese manager Fernando Santos is expecting a closely fought match. “From what I’ve seen, Poland doesn’t resemble the teams we’ve faced so far. It’s a very strong opponent. They’re well organized.
“They’re very good defensively, but have good players. They go from defence to attack very fast. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.”