'There's more to Portugal than Cristiano Ronaldo' - Badstuber

Jun 5, 2012 12:41:00 PM

The Bayern Munich man is eager to lead the Germany defence this summer, and warned his team-mates that they should not focus only on Ronaldo when they meet the Seleccao

Holger Badstuber has urged his Germany side to be wary of Portugal when the two nations kick off their Euro 2012 campaign on Saturday.

The versatile Bayern Munich defender stressed that the Seleccao are not a one-man team, and is confident that the German players will know all about their opponents' talismanic attacker.

"The Bayern players already know Cristiano Ronaldo pretty well from our Champions League games against Real Madrid. There's more to Portugal than Cristiano Ronaldo, though, Badstuber was quoted as saying by Bild.

"They have a lot of top-class players, and we can't afford to let them out of our sight."

Badstuber then acknowledged that is determined to play a key role at Euro 2012 as he aims to become Germany's leader at the back.

"I want to play an important role at Euro 2012 and have set myself the objective to put in a top performance in every game," he said.

"I want to take my responsibility and give orders to the other players. It's important for my team-mates that I speak up on the pitch. I can only make things easier for them and help them out."

Germany take on Portugal in Lviv on June 9 in the second Group B game.

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