'I am following Portugal for Ronaldo': Sourav Ganguly on his love for football

Sourav Ganguly and Cristiano Ronaldo. Pics/AFP

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly opened up about his love for football and revealed that he is following Portugal for the iconic forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

The fever of football continues to grow all over the world after the group stage of Euro 2024 concluded and teams are gearing up ahead of the round of 16 on Saturday.

Ahead of the next phase of the competition, Ganguly revealed that he closely follows England, Portugal, Germany, and France, who have been backed to lift the coveted prize.

"Except for India, Euro, I have watched the tournament very very closely. I follow England, I am following France, I am following Portugal for Cristiano Ronaldo I am following Germany as well. I find Germany very strong. I follow football very closely because I love it," Ganguly said during an event in Kolkata.

England topped Group C with five points and will face Slovakia on Sunday at the Veltins Arena. The Three Lions clinched a 1-0 victory over Serbia to kick off their campaign, with Jude Bellingham slotting the ball into the back of the net in the 13th minute of the game.

In their second group-stage game, Denmark managed to hold the Three Lions to a 1-1 draw. Harry Kane fired England into the lead in the 18th minute of the game.

After taking the lead, England sat in their defensive half and eventually got punished for it. Morten Hjulmand brought the game on level terms with a rocket from 30 yards. Their final group-stage campaign against Slovenia ended in a goalless draw.

Portugal managed to seal their spot in the next round of the competition by topping Group F with six points.

Spearheaded by Ronaldo, Portugal defeated Turkey and the Czech Republic. But Georgia left them speechless with a 2-0 win in the final game of the group stage. In the round of 16, they will be against Slovenia at Deutsche Bank Park on Tuesday.

The hosts, Germany, have been almost flawless in the first three games. They won their first two games but got held for a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Germany will need to beat Denmark on Sunday to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.

One of the tournament favourites, France, have struggled to find their rhythm throughout the group stage. They drew two games and finished in the second spot with five points, below table toppers Austria.

France will face tough opposition in the form of Belgium in the round of 16 at Dusseldorf Arena on July 1.

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