Ronaldo and Mbappe to face off in Portugal vs France Euro 2024 quarterfinal

The Portuguese team were back to training in Marienfeld,Germany, on Wednesday ahead of their Euro 2024 quarterfinal showdown on Friday against rivals France.

The game will see what has been described by some commentators as a duel between the two captains, Cristiano Ronaldo and France’s Kylian Mbappe. And a clash of generations.

Paris Saint-Germain full-back, Nuno Mendes, has described both men as top-class players and excellent footballers.

"I’ve shared a changing room with both of them. It was a pleasure to play with Mbappe and I'm delighted to play with Cristiano. They're two incredible players who can make a difference from one moment to the next,” he said.

“We're ready for that. We're going to train and prepare our goals and our ideas as much as possible, so that we can get to the game and implement them in the best way."

Twenty-five-year-old Mbappe is widely regarded as the world’s best player currently, while Ronaldo (39) has confirmed this will be his last European championship.

The Portuguese superstar missed a penalty in the first half of extra time in his team’s match against Slovenia on Monday and could not hold back his tears at the break.

''It was a difficult moment for him. We're all here to help. He was in a not so good moment, so the team felt it. We're a very united group,' said Mendes.

Ronaldo went on to score Portugal's first spot kick in the penalty shoot-out and with three incredible saves from their goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, they went through 3-0.

"We've got everything we need to give him [Ronaldo] this gift and we're going to do everything we can, let's put it this way.”

Mendes said that while it would be “complicated” to stop Mbappe, he was going to do everything in his power to do so.

Kick-off time in Hamburg on Friday will be at 21h00 Central Africa Time. The winner of that match will progress to a semi-final game against Spain or Germany.