Along with France or even England and Germany, Portugal is one of the major favorites for the Euro. Of all the main contenders for victory, not taking Belgium into account, Roberto Martinez's men are the ones who have had the toughest start to the competition. But they finally managed to escape the eye of the needle at the end of the match.
Futile mastery
The first period was an example of the favorite against a low block: with 70% possession after the first 45 minutes, Portugal showed a very dominant face by having ten shots on goal. In contrast, the Czech Republic gritted its teeth in the face of counterattacks and stood shoulder to shoulder with an almost impassable defensive wall. It was enough to frustrate the Portuguese team, which had mastered its theme completely but did not look dangerous: of the ten shots taken by Martinez's men, only three were on target without causing any major danger.
Football fans have experienced it dozens and dozens of times: when a team dominates the game to this extent but fails to score, they are often punished in the process. This is exactly what happened on the hour mark with a flawless shot from Provod who opened the scoring immediately after a huge goal from Portugal in a general upset (0-1).
A goal fell with the first Czech shot on target, punishing a confused Portugal. Too rigid, the Lusitanian team was no longer able to master its subject matter and lacked technical precision despite the quality of players such as Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo. In these situations, there is often only a twist of fate that can save the leading team. This is exactly what happened with a Czech own goal, via an involuntary pass from the goalkeeper to his defender, which gave hope to Portugal (1-1).
The goal was disallowed and then scored
It was believed that the gods of the field had decided that the Portuguese candidate would not be successful in his entry into the competition. A few minutes before the end of the match, Diogo Jota's winning goal was disallowed due to… a shoulder from Cristiano Ronaldo. Finally, it was Francisco Conceicao who scored the winning goal just seconds into the match. Portugal was afraid but Portugal finally succeeded in entering the tournament which it plans to win on July 14.
Top: Conceição (7/10). He only spent a few minutes on the pitch but he will long remember that victorious stoppage-time goal.
Flop: Check (4/10). The great Czech striker suffered above all from not having a real opportunity to unleash his powers. It was released an hour later… right before the opening score.
Portugal: Costa, Dalot (Inacio 63), Pepe, Dias, Cancelo (Semedo 90), Bernardo Silva, Vitinha (Conceição 90), Bruno Fernandes, Nuno Mendes (Neto 90, Ronaldo, Leao (Diogo Jota 63).
Czech Republic : Stanek, Krejci, Hranac, Holz (Korean 90), Coufal, Sulek (Civcic 79), Soucek, Provod (Barak 79), Dodera, Cech (Chytil 60), Kuchta (Linger 60).
Refree: Mr. Guida (ETA).
Warnings: Liao, Shek, Conceiçao
Objectives : Provod 62 (0-1), Hranac CSC 69 (1-1), Conceição 90 (2-1).
