Ronaldo eyes quarter-final spot

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo admits it will be a tall order for his country to progress from the ‘group of death’ at Euro 2012.

Paulo Bento’s team face the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany in Group B at the European Championships.

Ronaldo, who has scored 32 goals in 89 appearances for Portugal, said his team’s goal was to reach the quarter-finals.

“We know we are in a very difficult group, a group of death with Holland, Germany and a team that beat us in the qualifying stages, Denmark,” Ronaldo said.

“This is why they are going to be hard games but I am confident we can get through the group stages.

“We know we are not favourites, but this is better for us.”

Ronaldo’s Real Madrid team-mate and Germany midfielder Mesut Oezil is more confident, declaring his country have set their sights on a first European crown since 1996.

“Our aim is to win titles,” Oezil said.

“Up to now we’ve always got through to the semi-finals or the final and missed out.

“This time I am more optimistic because we have a very young team that wants to win everything.

“A good test of this is that we won all our 10 qualifying games.

“Holland are amongst the favourites and of course Spain have players that have been playing together for years.

“But we are focussing on ourselves and I’m convinced we can win the European Championship.”

Germany are the most successful team in European Championship history, having won the title on three occasions.

Joachim Loew’s side will take on Israel in a final friendly in Leipzig on Thursday, while Portugal host Turkey in Lisbon on Saturday before heading to Ukraine.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/ronaldo-eyes-quarter-final-spot/95492/