With veterans Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting lineup, Portugal suffered, but defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 with a late goal from Francisco Conceição in his debut in Group F of the Euro-2024this Tuesday (18) in Leipzig, Germany.
Portugal, the last of the favorites to enter the field for the first round of the continental tournament, in Group F, defied the laws of time and presented its candidacy to be the protagonist in a competition that it won eight years ago precisely with Pepe and CR7.
The coach of the Portuguese national team, Spaniard Roberto Martínez, did not hesitate in choosing the defender, aged 41 years and 113 days, and the striker of five Ballon d’Or winners, aged 39 years and four months, both ex-Real Madrid players who are already the two oldest players to participate in a European Cup game. But he praised the changes made to seek the turnaround, after the rival took the lead.
“The players who came off the bench showed that we have a lot of options and a very competitive team, technically and tactically we played a very good game, there were 13 corners to zero”, analyzed Roberto Martínez.
Portugal “was much better” and “deserved to win”, acknowledged Czech coach Ivan Hasek.
Cristiano Ronaldo was always motivated during the anthem, singing at the top of his lungs and shouting to motivate his teammates.
With the ball rolling, he moved freely and created danger throughout the attack line, and even hit the post with his head (86′). Jota took advantage of the rebound to send the ball into the back of the net, but VAR disallowed the goal due to the veteran star’s slight offside.
CR7 will seek in the next match against Turkey to become the oldest player to score in a European Championship.
And they will seek qualification so they can continue dreaming of a second championship after their historic achievement in 2016.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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