Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Cristiano Ronaldo is everything, but he will not be enough for Portugal to beat Spain, says Steve Archibald


Former Barcelona, Tottenham and Scotland striker Steve Archibald says Portugal's hopes of beating Spain rest on one man, Cristiano Ronaldo, but believes the Real Madrid forward will not be enough for Paulo Bento's side to claim victory in Wednesday's all-Iberian Euro 2012 semi-final in Donetsk.
 Archibald was signed by Spurs from Barcelona in 1984 as a replacement for Diego Maradona and won La Liga for the Catalan club under Terry Venables.
The Glasgow-born forward, who also had a spell at Espanyol later in his career and moved back to Catalunya after hanging up his boots, is backing his adopted country to advance to the final of Euro 2012 - despite Ronaldo.
"Portugal have very good players," he told Goal.com in an exclusive interview. "And of course they have Cristiano Ronaldo who is in a great moment of form.
"But I do not think it will be enough because Spain will have possession of the ball and that will be an important factor. Sergio Ramos plays with Ronaldo at Real Madrid and [Gerard] Pique also knows him well. They know how good he is. "
And despite La Roja's protestations that Portugal are not a one-man team, Archibald believes they are.
"I think Portugal do not have any other [decisive] players. Cristiano Ronaldo is everything, he makes the difference in his national team. Ronaldo is their top player."

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