Hodgson not fazed by Ronaldo threat
Roy Hodgson insists he would not by frightened by the prospect of facing Cristiano Ronaldo if Portugal emerge as England's last-16 opponents at Euro 2016.
England's second-place finish in Group B means they will face the runners-up of Group F in Nice on Monday - a position that could still be occupied by Hungary, Iceland, Austria or Portugal.
Roy Hodgson's men beat Portugal 1-0 in a pre-Euro 2016 friendly at Wembley earlier this month, though Ronaldo missed the match as he recovered from his Champions League final exertions for Real Madrid.
Ronaldo has endured a difficult tournament so far, failing to score against Iceland and Austria despite having 20 shots across the two matches and missing a penalty.
And Hodgson believes England have plenty of reasons to be confident if they end up facing Portugal, in spite of the presence of the three-time Ballon d'Or winner.
> > I think we have seen in this tournament it is not names and reputations, it is what teams do on the field. If it is Portugal it is Portugal. > > > “I know one thing: I would rather play Portugal in round of 16 than not be in the round of 16. > > > “Why not be confident? We beat them at Wembley in another 'Attack versus defence' type of performance — and what’s more, they have only taken two points from their games so far. > > > “And who knows? If we play well in a game like that, people might say you were lucky to get Portugal because you might not have done the same thing against an Albania, Northern Ireland or Czech Republic. > >