Not Cristiano Ronaldo, but a young Francisco Conceicao hogs all the limelight. The young boy from Porto, son of the great Sergio Conceicao redeemed his family name at the mega stage. The young 21-year old snatched a late goal as Portugal kick started their UEFA Euro 2024 campaign with a sensational 2-1 comeback against Czech Republic.
Wrong tactics or formation?
It safe to say that Portugal didn’t play that bad which is usually looks to the normal eye. One of the stark changes was Roberto Martinez opting for his preferred 5-back formation. Something which doesn’t do with a attacking minded Portugal side. And the result was evident from the very first minute of the game.
Overutilisation of the width meant, the central and creative players like Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva weren’t utilised to the fullest. Out in the left flank Rafael Leao continued to be a showman with his flashy skills and stepovers, but failed to neither create or convert any chances.
The pain streaking and frustrating first half yielded no results as Cristiano Ronaldo, in his best vigour remained rather silent. Ronaldo did get his chances, but was deemed offside a couple of times, while the rest was too difficult for even him to convert.
Czech stun Portugal
The second half began, with nothing doing. But gradually the Czech side continued to build on their pressure. And just minutes after the hour mark, calamity struck for Portugal.
It was the first shot on target for Czech and Lukas Provod produced a wonder strike. Vladimir Coufal dribbled past Rafael Leao to lay off a perfect ball to Provod just outside the box. And without thinking twice, Provod went on to unleash a banger of shot to stun the Portuguese fans in the crowd.
But Portugal however, grew back into the game as Cristiano Ronaldo continued to encourage his side. Czech Republic’s lead lasted just 6 minutes before Portugal equalised. In a rather big scuffle inside the box, an advancing Nuno Mendes headed the ball inside the box. But the ball unfortunately hit Robin Hranac and went into the back of the net.
Joy and Ecstasy!
Just a minute after the equaliser, Roberto Martinez understood his mistake and switched to back four. Diego Jota and and Goncalo Inacio replaced Leao and Dalot. Minutes before the final whistle, Diego Jota thought he scored the winner. A low cross was whipped from the right flank by Cancelo.
Cristiano Ronaldo as obviously the first to reach the ball and head it. The ball hit the side bar, only to fall into the path of Diego Jota who tucked it home. But after a small wait, the VAR deemed Ronaldo to be offside and the goal was cancelled.
Remember the Name!
4 minutes were added at the 90th minute mark when Martinez decided to roll his last dice. He made three changes, which included Francisco Conceicao coming in place of Vitinha.
After coming on into the pitch, the 21-year old young boy from Porto scored his side’s winning goal. Pedro Neto danced and dribbled past a couple of defenders on the left flank to place the ball inside the box. A czech defender stopped the ball, only for the ball to fall into the path of an advancing Francisco Conceicao. The youngster tapped the ball into the net to help his side script a remarkable comeback in the game.
