Having fallen behind after a goal from Provod, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates reacted. First they were helped by an own goal and then they found the goal of the newly introduced Conceicao, who gave them the three points
Long awaited, Cristiano Ronaldo took to the field this evening knowing that he would write another page of history by setting another record, that of the player with the most editions of the Euro played, six. His Portugal, one of the teams that from the point of view of quality is more brilliant and abundant than average, had to deal with a rough and compact Czech Republic.
And Cristiano was the only one who really tried in front of goal in the first half in which the Lusitanians’ ideas were crude and did not find an outlet in concrete execution. For the first time on the half hour mark, when after a nice vertical pass he was on the edge of offside by shooting a diagonal shot but without being able to cool the opposing goalkeeper Stanek, who was very good at blocking the target.
The abundance of creative players, which had not been at all effective in the first 45 minutes, was slow to materialize even in a second part in which water poured down from the sky, wetting the already more than humid Portuguese powder. On the hour mark, Cristiano tried to score again with a free kick from a central position, as was his shot, which flew over the wall but didn’t create any problems for Stanek.
Then, after a lot of water falling from above, came the freezing shower for the Portuguese when, in the 62nd minute, Provod struck inside from the edge of the area and slipped the ball into the far corner for a helpless Diogo Costa. A real surprise for Roberto Martinez’s team, who didn’t seem to believe what they saw, crashing hard against reality.
However, the shot had the classic exciting effect for those who conceded goals, and shortly after Portugal found the equalizer, albeit fortunately. In fact, an almost harmless header from Nuno Mendes was blocked by Stanek onto the foot of the onrushing Hranac, who thus threw it behind his goalkeeper. A total suicide by the Czechs, who however had the merit of not giving up, also aiming for the new lead with the indomitable captain Soucek.
Martinez was looking for a quick revolution with the substitutions, and the new substitute Diogo Jota deceived everyone in the 88th, hitting the net with a header after a post hit by Ronaldo. But the position of the Portuguese captain was irregular, albeit very slightly, and the VAR invalidated the play, increasing the frustration of the former Real Madrid player. Then, the unthinkable: the newly entered Conceicao took advantage of a loose ball in front of goal and in the 92nd minute kicked violently with his left foot into the back of the goal, making his teammates explode with joy. It was the decisive goal that gave the triumph to Portugal, who sweated quite a bit but started the Euro with a victory. At the end of the match, CR7’s emotional and symbolic embrace of the young striker, who was only one year old when the captain made his debut at Euro 2004.
