Euro 2012: Cristiano Ronaldo Must Be Group's Best Player for Portugal to Advance

If Portugal wants to survive the group of death, Cristiano Ronaldo will need to put in a legendary performance.

Portugal has a solid team, and nearly their entire roster plays for a world-class team. Unfortunately, the Portuguese are in a group with two of the top three teams in Europe (according to FIFA's new rankings). With Denmark (No. 9) being the other team in the group, Portugal is the lowest-ranked side in its group.

Given that Portugal is the 10th-best team in the world, that's a pretty ridiculous group of death.

Portugal survived the group of death at the 2010 World Cup, but this won't be as easy. Remember, Ivory Coast didn't have Didier Drogba at full strength, and Portugal absolutely destroyed North Korea. With those two major factors, Portugal was in great shape.

It won't be nearly as easy this time around.

That's where Ronaldo steps in.

In the knockout stages, teams win matches. With everything on the line, a team needs to be firing on all cylinders to advance. In the group stages, however, things are a little different.

Germany is the class of the group. They are strong all the way through their lineup, and it will be tough for Portugal to beat them. Holland is similarly talented, but they aren't as well-rounded.

With a weak back four, Ronaldo could create a couple goals against the Netherlands. Considering it will most likely be a must-win match for Portugal, Ronaldo will need to make those goals happen.

Denmark is a solid team, but none of them can match up with Ronaldo. He will get his chances against them. He just needs to finish.

Finally, Portugal isn't as complete as the other teams. Robin van Persie doesn't need to be great because he has Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder to help him out. Germany has too many attacking options to count.

As for Portugal, Joao Moutinho and Nani are very good, but they have a tendency to disappear in games (Nani especially). With that said, it must be noted that Ronaldo can disappear at inopportune times. However, if one of his attacking partners starts to underperform, Ronaldo must take control.

There's no doubting Ronaldo's ability. He just needs to perform at his highest level for Portugal to have a chance in Group B.

The other teams are really good, but two of them have holes in the back. Considering Ronaldo has the skills to exploit those problems, he needs to make things happen.

Portugal will only go as far as Ronaldo takes them. Considering this is a world-class group, Ronaldo will need a world-class performance. Otherwise, Portugal could be going home early.