Euro 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo refuses to be distracted by Covid or club future as Portugal open title defence

Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted Portugal remain focused on their European title defence and are not concerned about losing more players to Covid-19 infections following Joao Cancelo's withdrawal from the squad. Manchester City full-back Cancelo, one of Portugal's leading players, was forced to leave the squad after testing positive for the coronavirus last week and has been replaced by Diogo Dalot. The rest of the Portugal squad and staff all tested negative. Portugal begin their Euro 2020 campaign against Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday and Ronaldo, who contracted Covid-19 in October, said the coronavirus will not distract him and his teammates from the task at hand. "I don't think it's a key factor. It's a shame Joao tested positive but everyone in our team is at peace; we don't talk about Covid-19 because we are all tired of this," Ronaldo, 36, told a news conference ahead of his side's first game against Hungary on Tuesday. "We know how to live with it and deal with it, it's a sad situation but we're all focused. For many players this is their first Euros and nothing will shake us. We respect all the rules but we're just focused on playing, we're not thinking about anything else at all." Ronaldo is set to play his ninth major tournament with Portugal and said he was as relaxed as ever, even though his club future remains unclear following reports he could leave Juventus before the start of next season. Ronaldo enjoyed another excellent season in Italy, topping Serie A's scoring charts with 29 goals, even as Juve suffered their worst season in a decade. "I've been playing at the highest level for many years so this doesn't phase me at all, if I were 18 or 19 maybe I'd have some sleepless nights but I'm 36 years old and whatever comes next will be for the best, whether that's staying at Juve or getting a transfer," he said. "The crucial thing now is the Euros. It's my fifth Euros but for me it's like my first so I want to start on the right foot, we want to play a good match and have only good thoughts in our first match to our last." Ronaldo heads into the Euros on 104 international goals, just five from matching former Iran striker Ali Daei as the top international scorer of all-time, but he said he would much rather help his country retain the trophy. "It's a nice record but I'm not thinking about it too much, winning the competition for a second consecutive time is a more beautiful objective," he said. "It's obviously not the same team as in 2016, this is a much younger side with an enormous potential. But how we do in the competition will tell us which team is better."

Euro 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo refuses to be distracted by Covid or club future as Portugal open title defence

Defending champions begin campaign against Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday