Portugal vs Belgium: 'I have evolved more than Cristiano Ronaldo' says Courtois

Portugal scraped through the group stage to make it to the round-of-16 of the ongoing European Championship. The defending champions will be facing Belgium, and Thibaut Courtois will be ready to defend his goal against the rampage of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese star has scored in every single game at the tournament so far, and has even beaten the international goalscoring record of 109 goals in the process. Meanwhile, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is ready to try to deny Ronaldo the opportunity to further extend his record.

Courtois and Ronaldo know each other well, having faced each other on numerous occasions in the past when they were playing for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid respectively. The Belgian knows how lethal Ronaldo can be, but he thinks he has a good chance against an opponent who, in his opinion, has not evolved as much as he has over the years.

"We have a plan to stop Portugal, they aren't just one player," Courtois said, referring to Ronaldo. "Cristiano is the top scorer in the Euros, he's an excellent player, obviously. However, I think he is still the same player he was when I was at Atletico, I have evolved more," he claimed, as quoted by Marca.

Fellow Belgian and Real Madrid player Eden Hazard is available for the match, and he is eager to put in a good performance after yet another injury-ridden season at the club level. Courtois thinks that Hazard is nearly ready to unleash his full potential.

"I see him in training and he [Hazard] trains very well, he is very close to his best form. That last few months in Madrid haven't been easy for him, he trains well but then suffers serious injuries. Then he has to pick up a rhythm by playing minutes, he is very strong mentally," Courtois added.

Belgium is Europe's highest ranked team going into Euro 2020, but the defending champions can never be written off. The match is scheduled to take place on Sunday.