Ronaldo crestfallen but ‘not out of it yet’

Cristiano Ronaldo took encouragement from his side’s performance against Germany and, having spoken to his club manager and mentor Jose Mourinho, believes he can still guide Portugal to a successful tournament at Euro 2012.

“I have already spoken to Mourinho and he said to trust in ourselves for the next two games and believe we can still go through. Even Germany’s Mesut Ozil said after the game that we have a great team and that we have become very difficult to beat In my mind, Germany did very little to win the game — they used their one and only chance in the second half and scored from it. That’s it.

“I’m very frustrated because we deserved at least a draw.

“In Euro 2004 we lost the opening game and we still reached the final. So we must remember that.”

Portuguese defender Pepe, whose shot hit the bar and bounced on the line, also insisted his side should not have lost against the Germans, who were solid rather than spectacular.

He said: “We didn’t deserve to lose. I left the stadium with complete certainty that the Germans would have been very happy with a draw considering the way the game went.

“We have missed a chance to get at least a point but nobody can doubt we played a great game and showed our quality.

“We just have to think about the next games against Denmark and Holland and do everything we can to win. I don’t think we are inferior to either of those sides.”

Germany midfielder Ozil, who plays alongside Ronaldo at Real, was happy with the result, saying: “We knew the game would be complicated, but it was even tougher than we thought. Portugal has a great team and not just, as many people have said, Cristiano Ronaldo on his own.

“I spoke to Cristiano after the game and gave him some encouragement because I really believe Portugal can reach the next phase of the tournament if they win their next match.

“But we have secured our goal, which was to start the tournament with a win. It makes it easier to handle the next two matches. These three points are precious and it was a good goal from Mario. He is in great form and will be decisive for Germany in this tournament.”