Co-favorite Portugal starts the European Football Championship with a last-minute win. Cristiano Ronaldo may play the main role in Leipzig, but others will decide the match against the Czech Republic. Around the 90 minutes it becomes abundantly clear how much appeal the 39-year-old still has.
The storm had long since passed over the roof of the Leipzig Arena, when the tension in the former Central Stadium was released, which was particularly palpable in the final phase: when Francisco Conceição scored in injury time (90.+2) to give Portugal a 2:1 victory over the Czech Republic. The 21-year-old, who had only been substituted a few moments earlier, thus relieved all those in the stands who supported him and his team – and also the one person for whom so many people had come to the Saxon city of 600,000 inhabitants on this Tuesday evening: Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I saw that the game was difficult. I came in and wanted to help the team score the goal. That’s what I did,” said the winning goal scorer afterwards, whom Ronaldo also hugged warmly. The 39-year-old, in turn, wrote briefly on Instagram after the nerve-wracking European Championship opener: “Until the end, Portugal.” The fans of the co-favorites had to wait almost until the end before they could celebrate wildly.
Long before kick-off of this group match, it is clear just how much attraction Ronaldo still has, even though he said goodbye to top-class club football long ago with his move to Saudi Arabia for hundreds of millions of euros. It is something of a circus, with the spectators going into ecstasy whenever the main attraction comes into action. When Ronaldo enters the pitch, there is huge applause. When his name is called during the line-up, a collective “Siuuu” echoes through the stadium. The iconic cry of joy with which he celebrates his goals. Even an insignificant goal during the warm-up leads to “Siuuuu” ecstasy in the stands. Over the next 90 minutes, it gets particularly loud whenever the attacker is involved.
Cristiano Ronaldo lurks behind the own goal scorer
For example, in the 61st minute, when Ronaldo gesticulates in front of the Portuguese fans while the Czechs make their first substitution: He uses the short break to encourage the already vocal blocks to cheer a little more, and the crowd reacts. But so do the Czechs: just a few seconds later, they shock the favorites, who had dominated the match up until then. Lukáš Provod scores the lead with only his third shot on goal. A fine curler into the top left corner and one of those goals that commentators like to say came “out of nowhere”.
Provod also shocked the favorites, the 2016 European champions, who had dominated the match up to that point. The statistics show that Portugal had 75 percent possession at this point, with 518 Portuguese passes compared to just 176 Czech passes. In the minutes that followed, however, Ronaldo & Co. briefly became hectic, and the 39-year-old again gesticulated wildly, this time towards his teammates. They were told to keep calm. The Czechs withdrew completely, defending with ten men in their own penalty area. And then scored the equalizer themselves.
In the 69th minute, the advanced full-back Nuno Mendes heads a cross from the half-field into the middle, where he thinks Ronaldo is ready to score. But it finds Czech goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk, who actually puts in a great performance. Actually, because he looks bad at that moment, although unlucky is probably a better description. Because of Staněk’s defensive action, the ball bounces off the left shin of center-back Robin Hranáč and from there over the goal line. 1:1.
Ronaldo prevents winning goal in the 87th minute
Given the course of the game, it was only right that the Czech Republic’s surprise lead was followed by a quick Portuguese equaliser. Cristiano Ronaldo’s eleven dominated proceedings and kept looking for the 39-year-old, who set another record as soon as the match kicked off: he was the first footballer to appear on the pitch at six European Championship finals, and since 2004 he has always been there when Europe is looking for its champion. And even though he has lost the outstanding class of his earlier days as he has advanced in his elite sportsman age, little has changed in terms of his omnipresence, his charisma and his importance for the Portuguese game.
Lost sprint duels like the one against Hranáč in the first quarter of an hour don’t change that, even if Ronaldo would probably have run after the ball not so long ago. Even in one-on-one situations, what used to seem obvious: running past the opponent with quick first steps and opening up space in the process, is no longer possible. Ronaldo repeatedly moves into the ten-yard box or to the wing, but his dribbling poses little danger. Instead, he is sought out all the more with crosses, and the Portuguese hit the ball into the middle 24 times in the hope of finding their number 7 there. But to no avail.
The closest thing came in the 87th minute, but only at second glance. Ronaldo headed a cross onto the post, the ball bounced back into the middle and substitute Diogo Jota headed it in. But the ecstatic celebrations over the supposed lead were followed by disillusionment: the video assistant recognised Ronaldo as being offside and the score remained (for the time being) at 1:1. The game continued with a free kick instead of a kick-off and the Portuguese were heading for a sobering start to the tournament.
When Ronaldo takes a free kick, thousands pull out their mobile phones
Also because the 39-year-old missed a few good opportunities during the game. In the 8th minute, a promising header from a cross by Rafael Leão went well wide of the Czech goal. In the 32nd minute, Ronaldo appeared completely free in front of Staněk, but the keeper used his hands and feet to prevent what seemed to be a sure goal (which probably wouldn’t have survived the offside check anyway). In the 45th minute, it was Staněk again who blocked Ronaldo’s powerful shot from just under ten meters from the half-right. The jubilation of his colleague in the press box, who openly showed his sympathies in the Al-Nassr jersey with the number 7, quickly died down.
In the 55th minute, another Ronaldo header is deflected for a corner, in the 56th minute a cross is cleared just in front of him, and in the 57th minute there is a free kick for the Portuguese. 25 metres from the goal, in the centre, Ronaldo measures his run-up with long strides, gets ready with all his legs apart and ensures that a surprising number of the 42,000 people in the stands pull out their mobile phones in the hope of filming a dream goal. But Staněk has the ball safely in his grasp. Shortly afterwards, Ronaldo’s gesture towards the fans follows, as described above, then the Czechs take the lead.
After the equaliser, the Portuguese kept up the pressure and pushed for victory. At one point, Pepe, who at 41 years and 113 days has replaced the iconic Hungarian goalkeeper Gábor Király (the Bundesliga legend played in a finals at 40 years and 86 days) as the oldest player in European Championship history, was 15 metres deep in the opponent’s half and yet was the closest outfield player to the Portuguese goal. Nevertheless, it looked for a long time as if all the effort had been in vain. Until Francisco Conceição – with an assist from Pedro Neto, who had also been substituted shortly before – ensured at the last minute that the tension in Leipzig was released in collective jubilation.