Budapest: Two late, record-breaking goals from Cristiano Ronaldo set the seal on a 3-0 victory for Portugal against Hungary in the opening game of their UEFA EURO 2020 Group F campaign, at the Puskas Arena, here early on Wednesday.
Ronaldo might have scored his historic tenth EURO final tournament goal just five minutes in, but Diogo Jota opted against squaring to his captain only for his shot to be saved by Peter Gulácsi. Ronaldo had no such excuse just before half-time, however, side-footing over after Bruno Fernandes had fizzed in a cross from the left that meandered its way through to the 36-year-old. International goal No105 would have to wait.
Though Gulácsi was required to keep out Pepe’s header and Bruno’s dipping long-range attempt, Hungary grew into the game for much of the second half. Indeed they thought they had won it when Szabolcs Schön squeezed in a shot ten minutes from the end, only for the offside flag to dampen the Magyar celebrations.
Then came the final act. Although Raphaël Guerreiro's deflected effort on 84 minutes opened the floodgates, the evening belonged to only one man. Ronaldo smashed in from the spot to overtake Michel Platini as all-time EURO top scorer and then proceeded to seal victory in stylish fashion, rounding Gulácsi and stroking into the net after an intricate move inside the area.
Ronaldo all-time high
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the all-time EURO scorer after registering his tenth and 11th finals goals, going clear of Michel Platini.
Ronaldo marked his EURO debut against Greece on 12 June 2004 with a goal – his first for Portugal! – and coming into these finals he had registered eight more across 21 finals appearances. His two ensuing goals against Hungary in Portugal's UEFA EURO 2020 opener took him two clear of France's Michel Platini, whose entire haul came at EURO '84.
Top five scorers
11 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
9 Michel Platini (France)
7 Alan Shearer (England)
6 Antoine Griezmann (France)
6 Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
source https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/euro-2020-comfortable-win-for-holders-portugal
0 comments:
Post a Comment