Portugal – Czech Republic 0:0 | The team insisted well, but the goal has not been scored yet

On a very rainy night in Leipzig, Portugal had to resort to the bench to warm up the game with the team’s “spreader”: Francisco Conceição.

The Kinas team was losing with a score of 1:0 and managed to turn the tide of the game only with a very late goal. They thus won 2-1 at the start of Euro 2024 in Germany on Tuesday night.

Roberto Martinez’s bet on three central players, including Nuno Mendes, seemed to have an effect early in the match. “We need to create space, control the game,” the selector predicted.

Indeed, in the first minutes, the Portuguese superiority resulted in a shower of shots that could not hit the Czech goal – due to the lack of points for the Kinas team or due to the competence of the opponent’s defense. .

The first warning came from the mind of Cristiano Ronaldo, setting up what would become the most important aspect of the Portuguese attack: crosses into the box.

Ronaldo missed the goal, and a few minutes later Rafael Lean missed by just a few centimeters. Overwhelming possession and attack prevented a happy ending to this one-way game.

The siege of the Czech goal remained fruitless, and goalkeeper Indrić Stanek did not even have to shine much. After half an hour of play, he made a mistake, not allowing a goal from Ronaldo, who would have been offside, and even received another hit from Vitinya.

The midfielder, who trains at Porto, has always been one of the most disgruntled players in the Portuguese team. He led a Portuguese midfield that strangled opponents as it climbed up the pitch.

The first half ends with another shot from Ronaldo with the same result as the previous ones. The second half resumed with another opportunity from the captain: Stanek scored from a free kick.
By failing to score, the team confirmed an old proverb already well-known in the world of football: “He who doesn’t score, suffers.” So it was.

In the 62nd minute, the Czechs opened the scoring with their first shot on goal. Lukash Provod was inspired and shot from outside the penalty area. The arc eluded Diogo Costa, who struck well but missed the ball, which swung the net against the flow of play.

Anticipating great difficulties with the goal, now that the Czechs had the advantage, the national team made every effort and managed to equalize after seven minutes.

Vitinha passed the ball to Nuno Mendes. The defender headed the ball towards the Czech goalkeeper, the ball hit Robin Granac, who was unlucky and scored in the wrong goal.

Close to finishing their debut as a draw, the Portuguese team redoubled their efforts and finally managed to score the winning goal. Or at least it seemed so. Cristiano Ronaldo headed in and the ball fell to Diogo Jota, who pushed it into the goal. The Portuguese euphoria was interrupted by VAR, who ruled out the captain’s minute play.

As the Portuguese resigned themselves to another European draw, Martinez looked to the bench and made three changes. Francisco Conceicao, Nelson Semedo and Pedro Neto were called up for the game.

It would be difficult to imagine such a practical and immediate solution to this problem. In the 92nd minute, with only two minutes left to play between three options, Pedro Neto invented a cross from the left, and the “spreader” Conceição did not consider the move lost, cutting through the defense and completing the turn.

The Portuguese team can now breathe a sigh of relief and head into the decider against Turkey, who also have three points, with victory in Group F of the European Championship.