Even at 39, Portugal’s Ronaldo ready to claim spotlight at Euro 2024

Lisbon: The last major fixture of the European club football season takes place this weekend (Sunday 3 am kickoff, Singapore time) at London’s Wembley Stadium, when the 14-time winners Real Madrid from Spain play Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.

There will be little time to rest after this game is over, for most of the players will fly in different directions to link up with their respective national teams.

Many of the 24 participating nations at the Euro 2024 football championship, which begin in Munich on June 14, have lined up some friendly matches next week as they give their squads a final chance to stake their claims for a starting berth.

In this third instalment of our four-part preview of the tournament, we look at the teams in Groups E and F, of which Belgium and Portugal are the big favourites to progress to the knockout stages.

Group E (Belgium, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania)

Many of Belgium’s “golden generation” are long past their prime, and it is glaring that a team ranked as the world’s best by Fifa for four years failed to win a single trophy. This despite having a star-studded squad that included the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois.

This is Belgium’s third consecutive appearance at the Euros, and the first under coach Domenico Tedesco. On paper, the Red Devils – who have players such as Axel Witsel, Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard in their ranks – should have few problems getting past their group rivals.

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The race for second place will be tight, with Ukraine and Romania likely to slug it out for a coveted place in the Round of 16. Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov needed to take the long road to qualify for Euro 2024 as he oversaw tough wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in the play-offs.

Ukraine may be the lowest-ranked team in Group E but their fans will take heart from some gritty performances in the qualifying round as they held Italy and England to draws at home. Rebrov will also have to get more goals from his squad, with only Viktor Tsyhankov and Artem Dovbyk scoring more than once during the qualifiers.

Romania are celebrating a first appearance at a major competition in eight years. They failed to reach Euro 2020 and it has been 24 years since they last played at a World Cup.

Romania’s key to escaping this group will be their tight defence. Coach Edward Iordanescu was pleased with the fact that his team conceded just five goals in 10 qualifying matches, and he will be counting on key defenders like Radu Dragusin and Andrei Burca to keep their opponents at bay.

As for Slovakia, not many give them much hope of causing an upset. Their preparations have been less than stellar, with a defeat to Austria and a drab draw with Norway in their friendly games in March doing little to boost morale. If they are to avoid a hiding in their three group fixtures, they will need Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and Paris Saint-Germain defender Milan Skriniar to be at their very best.

Group F (Portugal, Czech Republic. Turkey, Georgia)

Even at 39, Portugal’s record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo continues to fly his country’s flag high and he looks set to make his sixth appearance at the Euros this summer.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner won the Euro 2016 trophy and has played a starring role in qualification once again as Portugal were the only team to have a perfect winning record. Under coach Roberto Martinez, Portugal are a team that know how to win and they should be able to breeze through Group F with minimal fuss.

Portugal have world-class stars in every position, among them Manchester United duo Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes, and Barcelona’s Joao Felix. Ronaldo is not the only veteran in the squad, as Martinez has also opted to call up 41-year-old defender Pepe.

The Czech Republic will provide a stern test in what is their eighth straight appearance at the Euros. The 1976 champions have done well in the past, reaching the quarter-finals twice, and the semis and final once in the last seven editions.

Turkey has the quality to spring a surprise or two as their squad has plenty of depth and experience, including Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu, Benfica’s Orkun Kokcu and Real Madrid’s Arda Guler. The Turks have not had a lot of luck in the Euros of late, falling at the first hurdle at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.

The weakest team in Group F are Georgia, which had to get past Luxembourg and Greece in the playoffs to reach the Euros for the first time as an independent nation.

Most fans will have trouble identifying anyone in coach Willy Sagnol’s team, but the more notable names are Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and 36-year-old captain Guram Kashia.