Writing in acolumn for The Times of India, Diego Maradona has claimed that Portugal are "too dependent" on their captain Cristiano Ronaldo, as they gear up to face Croatia in their last-16 Euro 2016 clash on Saturday night.
The Real Madrid superstar had been heavily criticised after failing to score in his side's two opening games but responded by scoring twice and assisting Nani's first-half strike in Portugal's 3-3 draw with Hungary on Wednesday.
Despite that impressive return to form, Maradona warned Portugal of the dangers of over-reliance on one player, an area he would know a lot about, having inspirationally led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986.
"Portugal are too dependent on Ronaldo. He was brilliant against Hungary, but they are half the force if he doesn't click and the tactically astute Croats will ensure he is low on supply.
"They have to plug holes in midfield and defence, because these are areas where mistakes lead to elimination. Croatia start favourites.He may have to move around for space and chances of Portugal's success hinge on how well he does that."
Maradona also added his admiration for Croatia, who topped Group D at the expense of Spain.
"The Croats are a fiesty lot as they showed against Spain. The way Croatia came back to win [against Spain on Tuesday] without stars like [Luka] Modric and [Mario] Mandzukic was a testament to steel, resolve and ability.
"The Croats are tactically sound, like most European teams, who give nothing away in defence. The speciality of this bunch appears to be the the ability to launch counter-attacks at great pace with a few touches.
"This lot is potentially [lower] on flair than the one that won World Cup bronze in 1998 but scores high on tactical discipline, teamwork and determination. Experience tells me these are valuable traits in knockout games."