The Real Madrid playmaker believes that the Seleccao do not rely on his illustrious club mate, and went on to praise Pepe and Fabio Coentrao.
Mesut Ozil has stressed that Germany cannot afford to solely focus on Cristiano Ronaldo in its Euro 2012 opener against Portugal.Die Mannschaft meet the Seleccao on Saturday as they aim to start the European Championship on a high, and Ozil feels that their opponent has a solid team on the whole, and does not rely on the Real Madrid man.
"We are not playing against Cristiano Ronaldo. We are taking on Portugal," Ozil was quoted as saying in an interview with Kicker. "They are collectively very strong and have some great individuals. Pepe is absolutely world-class in my opinion, and Fabio Coentrao has a lot of pace and technique.
"Portugal are one of the favorites to win the tournament, alongside Spain, Netherlands and France."
The attacking midfielder then went on to discuss his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo, and stated that the attacker was a great help for him when he arrived at Madrid in the summer of 2010.
"He is a cool guy. He's not arrogant at all. He's the one who helped me the most when I joined Madrid."
Saturday's Group B encounter in Lviv kicks off at 2:45 p.m. ET.
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