Surprise was in the air! Portugal’s win was decided in the set-up, Ivan Hasek’s selection experienced the bitterness of defeat for the first time

The Czech Republic was the last country to compete against Portugal at the Euro in Germany. The match was in favour of Ivan Hašek’s team for a very long time, but in the set time of the second half the favourite finally decided on its triumph.

The beginning of the match was quite cautious, played mainly between the 16. The team of the experienced coach Ivan Hašek entered the match with a clear task, namely not to score the first goal.

The huge favourite of the match got the first big chance in the 33rd minute. Cristiano Ronaldo, however, did not challenge the goalkeeper Jindřich Stanek, the tribal player of Slavia made a fantastic save.

The holder of five Ballon d’Or also got on the end of the ball in stoppage time of the first half, but this time he could not score either. Stanek once again held his teammates.

The opening act ended in a goalless draw. It was the first time in the seventeenth European Championship that the fans did not see a goal before the change of sides. This result definitely favoured the Czech national team.

In the 62nd minute, coach Ivan Hašek’s team surprisingly took the lead. A pass by Vladimir Coufal on the edge of the penalty area was perfectly taken advantage of by Lukáš Provod, who hit the back post with his weaker right foot.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as in the 69th minute Stanek headed Mendes’ header just in front of him and unfortunately for him hit stopper Robin Hranac. The Pilsen defender could do nothing about the situation.

Three minutes before the end of regulation time, substitute Diogo Jota scored. However, this was preceded by an offside by Cristiano Ronaldo and the goal could not be recognised.

However, in stoppage time of the second half, the team of the Spanish strategist Roberto Martinez had already scored a regular goal, from the kick of twenty-one-year-old Francisco Conceicao. Portugal took the first three points in the Group F table.

Source: UEFA, EURO 2024