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Ronaldo unfazed as Portuguese eye clincher

Comment: 0 November 14th, 2011 by: admin

LIKE his great rival Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo is often criticised for failing to shine for Portugal in the international stage.

As the  Argentine has failed to transfer his amazing form for Barcelona onto his country, so as Ronaldo lately.

But the Portuguese superstar remains his nation’s main man and he can allay doubts of home fans when he takes the leader’s role again when they battle Bosnia-Herzegovina in the second leg of their Euro 2012 playoffs on Tuesday at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.

The Portuguese are confident they can rebound strongly from the 0-0 result from Friday’s leg held in Sarajevo.

Defending his form when playing for flag and country and after failing to add to his five goals converted in the qualifying phase,  Ronaldo said:  “All teams go through rough patches. It’s all about cycles.’’

He added they have to  “take on the mantle of favourites because we are a team that always has a chance of winning. ‘’

Bosnia are facing the same side who bumped them off during a playoff for the World Cup two years ago. Their tussle against the Portuguese is the tightest of the four playoffs for the Euro 2012.

With their 0-2 aggregate loss to the Portuguese in that playoff still on their minds, Bosnia remain unfazed.

Striker Vedad Ibisevic, who did not see action in the first leg, said the time has come for their generation to go to a major competition and hopes they will achieve their goal.

Ireland crushed Estonia 4-0 in Tallinn while Croatia whipped Turkey 3-0 in Istanbul and gained precious grounds ahead of their return fixtures at home.

Also fortifying their bid to qualify for their fifth straight European Championships are the Czech Republic who trimmed Montenegro 2-0 but they must not be complacent in their second leg duel at Podgorica.

In friendlies slated Tuesday, Germany meet the Netherlands ina showdown of two Euro 2012 favourites, while reigning world and European champions Spain try to recover from their 0-1 defeat to England when they clash with hosts Costa Rica.

The Three Lions collide with Sweden at Wembley while Italy host Uruguay.

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