Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz has called Cristiano Ronaldo the greatest player of all time ahead of their World Cup qualifying tie against Portugal.
Despite their mutual respect for the Portuguese striker, Yilmaz is desperate to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar at Ronaldo’s expense. Speaking to the press before his match against Portugal (via Sporx’s Twitter page), Burak Yilmaz dijo:
“For me, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player of all time in the world. I respect and love him very much. I don’t know if it’s his last World Cup, but I’m sure it will be his last. I want to go out on the pitch and do my best to help my country.”
Both Portugal and Turkey finished second in their respective qualifying groups, which has seen them drop to the playoffs to qualify for the World Cup. The winner of this tie will face either Italy or North Macedonia to book a place in this year’s main tournament in Qatar.
Burak Yılmaz: “For me, Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time in the world. I respect him and love him very much. I don’t know if it’s his last World Cup, but I’m sure it will be my last. Going out on the field and doing my best for him, i 🇵🇹🇹🇷 https://t.co/ZoXEImZtYy
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This could be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last chance to win the World Cup with Portugal. The 37-year-old striker has been to the World Cup four times in his career, but only finished fourth in 2006.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored six goals in the qualifying group stage, including a hat-trick against Luxembourg earlier in the campaign.
However, it is worth noting that Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to score a goal against Turkey on the international stage. The Manchester United striker has faced Turkey twice in his career and is currently scoreless.
Portugal have a squad capable of qualifying for the World Cup and doing well in Qatar. Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Joao Félix are big names who are also performing well at club level.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently Manchester United’s top scorer this season
Cristiano Ronaldo reaches the semi-finals of the World Cup Qualifying thanks to good club form. The 37-year-old striker has scored 18 goals and provided three assists in 32 games for Manchester United this season.
Ronaldo is currently the top scorer for Red Devis this season. He is nine goals ahead of the second placed and also Portuguese Bruno Fernandes.
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