Portugal head coach, Roberto Martinez has defended his decision to include Cristiano Ronaldo in his Euro 2024 squad.

According to Martinez, the 39-year-old deserves to be at the tournament.

He also insisted that all the players were selected on merit.

Ronaldo scored 44 goals in all competitions last season, having finished the second top scorer in all of Euro 2024 qualifying.

“Cristiano is in the national team on merit. Nobody gets into the national team by just having a name. Cristiano scored 50 goals in 51 games – consistent with his club in his league – and he scored [10] goals in our qualification rounds,” Martinez said.

“He’s a goalscorer and, for us, he’s someone who can make that final move. He can stretch defences and open spaces. Over the years, he has changed his way of playing slightly, but I can only say that Cristiano is in the national team on merit and the numbers are there to back that up.”

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