In Leipzig only Portugal was playing, or so it seemed, because the Czechs did not show themselves: they had positioned themselves at the back, they had set up the parapet in front of their area, they had given up the ball and let the Portuguese do their thing.
According to some, this is the most complete Portugal in recent years, the Portugal of longevity records (the 41 years of Pepe, the oldest footballer in a European Championship; the six appearances of Cristiano Ronaldo), and in principle the reading of eleven corroborated the reflection. There are Nuno Mendes, Bernardo Silva, Vitinha and the great Leão, a knife in the left lane.
Leão accelerated and went back and forth, and every time he grabbed the ball he spread panic in the Czech defense.
The problem was that his centers ended in nothing, because Cristiano Ronaldo is a caricature of himself and the reporter wonders why he missed it in Germany, why Robert Martínez consents to his presence: Cristiano Ronaldo gestures like a B-movie actor , he laments and curses, and neither runs nor jumps nor overflows, and his free kicks are tame and too focused, and he collapses every time he struggles for a ball, his game is meaningless but also a magnet.
Cristiano Ronaldo shoots on goal, this Tuesday
Miguel Á. López / EFE
The observer cannot stop looking at him.
The thing is that you don’t live from that, from hypnosis.
And for that reason, this Portugal so apparently complete, in reality so asymmetric, was going to end up appealing to the heroic, overwhelmed by the catenaccio Czech and the storm that had broken out over Leipzig.
Well, their offensives were harmless, they did not scare the Czechs, who would end up trying things: the first and only time they arrived, in ’62, Provod put them in.
The abyss opened at the feet of the Portuguese, as willing as they were defenseless, who would have had a really bad time if Hranac, skittish, had not scored an own goal five minutes later. With the tie, the Portuguese finally believed it: they surrounded Stanek’s goal and in the extension, when the game was dying, he received the blessing, the work of Francisco Conceição.
Portugal, 2 – Czech Rep., 1
Data sheet
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Cancelo (Semedo, min. 90), Dalot (Inacio, min. 63), Pepe, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes (Neto, min. 90), Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha (Conçeicão, min. 90) , Rafael Leão (Diogo Jota, min. 63) and Cristiano Ronaldo
Czech Republic: Stanek, Coufal, Holes, Hranac, Krejci, Doudera, Sulc (Sevcic, min. 79), Soucek, Provod (Baral, min. 79), Kuchta (Lingr, min. 60) and Schick (Chytil, min. 60)
Goals: 0-1, min. 62: Provod; 1-1, min. 70: Hranac, own goal; 2-1, min. 92: Conceição.
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy). He showed yellow card to Rafael Leão, Schick and Conceição.
Incidents: match corresponding to the first day of Group F of the German Euro Cup played at the Leipzig Stadium in front of nearly 25,000 spectators.
