Marko Arnautovic thinks Cristiano Ronaldo is an unearthly being. “If you say his name, we won’t talk about people anymore,” said Austria’s star striker on Thursday after Ronaldo’s double in the European Football Championship against France (2-2). With his two penalty goals, the 36-year-old has now set the Iranian Ali Daei’s world record with 109 goals for Portugal.
Arnautovic is four years younger than Ronaldo and has so far scored 27 goals in the national team. Both wear the number 7 on their backs. “There are two players for me who are out of this world,” said Arnautovic at the ÖFB team camp in Seefeld. “They are from somewhere completely different, came here for a moment, mixed up all the leagues and all the competitions and took all the trophies with them, and then they took off again – that’s him and Lionel Messi.”
His offensive colleague Christoph Baumgartner especially admires Ronaldo’s work ethic. “You can see what is possible with a lot of hard work. What he has achieved is incredible. He has a lot of talent, but he has maxed it out so far,” said the gold goal scorer in the decisive ÖFB group game against Ukraine (1 : 0). “There may be someone who is better – but even there you can argue.”
If the Austrians survive the high hurdle Italy in the European Championship round of 16 in London on Saturday (9 p.m. / live ORF 1), another duel with Ronaldo and Co. could wait in the quarter-finals. At the EM 2016 in France, there was a 0-0 in the group stage against the eventual European champions – Austria’s only point win at the time. The winner of the duel with Italy will face Portugal or Belgium next Friday in Munich.
Of course, it would be a “treat” to play against Ronaldo or the Belgian stars Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku, said Baumgartner. “But in a round of 16 at the EURO against Italy at Wembley, I don’t need a motivational injection. Everyone will get the adrenaline when they wash their ears,” said the Lower Austrian. The Italians would also have “world-class players” at their disposal.
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