Cristiano Ronaldo spans the generations. He in effect replaced Sergio Conceicao in the Portugal squad two decades ago. Twenty years on, as Ronaldo set his latest record, Sergio’s son Francisco Conceicao proved Portugal’s rescuer, upstaging even the old master, providing the sort of dramatic late winner that has long been the 39-year-old’s trademark.
Roberto Martinez, unusually timid initially, had gambled after seeing a Diogo Jota goal disallowed and made a triple change on 90 minutes.
On, along with Nelson Semedo, came Pedro Neto and Conceicao. The two wingers had barely entered the game when they decided it. Neto’s cross was blocked but not cleared by the luckless Robin Hranac and fell for Conceicao to drive in. If nothing else, it was proof of Portugal’s immense depth of talent.
They were not even the first wingers Martinez had brought off the bench. That was Jota, who had sparked euphoric, if shortlived, celebrations himself, showing his predatory sense to bury the rebound when Ronaldo’s header struck the post. It felt a classic Ronaldo header, propelling himself to a rare height, those finely honed neck muscles on show, but semi-automated technology – they certainly didn’t have that when Ronaldo played with Sergio Conceicao – denied him. Ronaldo’s shoulder was offside; as the years have passed he can tend to make his runs a little earlier, to such an extent that when Portugal’s movement kicked off, he was already 10 yards into the Czechia half.
An eventful evening for Ronaldo became a victorious one for Portugal – by accident or design? They could certainly thank Hranac, who scored an own goal and set up the winner. They were supplied with a shock when Lukas Provod put Czechia ahead; his was the goal of the game, but it did not decide the game.
It was a match with a dramatic ending and a historic beginning. At the only ground in Euro 2024 in the old East Germany, this was a landmark occasion for two old-timers born when it actually was East Germany. Pepe, at 41 years and 113 days, took Gabor Kiraly’s record as the oldest ever player in a European Championships. Ronaldo became the first footballer to appear in six European Championships.
He will have to wait a little longer to become the first to score in six after losing a duel with a goalkeeper formerly of Hyde United. That was due to Jindrich Stanek, now of Slavia Prague but a Hyde loanee nine years ago. Ronaldo, accustomed to life at a rather bigger club in Greater Manchester, was denied by the goalkeeper three times. Even when Ronaldo beat him, and then Jota did, that stray shoulder brought what proved only a temporary reprieve to Czechia.
Limited in ambition and talent but obdurate and organised, a side who finished below Albania in qualifying threatened to punish Portugal for their first-half passivity. Diogo Costa had nothing to do until, suddenly, there was a shot he could do nothing to stop. Vladimir Coufal laid the ball back to Provod on the edge of the box. His shot was curled in perfectly. It was just a third international goal for a midfielder deprived of a place at Euro 2020 by injury, who spent the time studying for an economics degree instead. But if the Czech chances were few and far between, Tomas Soucek later came close to a winner.
For Portugal, meanwhile, Martinez surprised by playing a back three; a system that was 3-4-1-2, with Ronaldo and Rafael Leao split strikers, was fluid. Yet a manager rarely accused of being too conservative may have erred on the side of caution. If Bruno Fernandes had seemed a victim of Martinez’s tinkering, handed a deeper position alongside Vitinha, he still showed his capacity to create. He was at the heart of Portugal’s best efforts before the break. His vicious, dipping but deflected shot just cleared the bar. A stretching Leao almost converted his cross.
And a laser-guided Fernandes pass and a Ronaldo run behind the Czech defence could have yielded a goal. Stanek made a fine save, rendering it irrelevant if, as looked likely, Ronaldo was just offside. Stanek then parried a Ronaldo shot on the turn. He got to a free kick, but it was a tame effort, lacking Ronaldo’s usual power. In fine form, the goalkeeper also denied Bernardo Silva.
Yet one of his saves led to the equaliser. Nuno Mendes’s header was parried by Stanek, struck the luckless Hranec and bounced in. It was a sign that Portugal could prevail by crossing, by getting players into the box. The formula produced two more goals: one disallowed, the other permitted and greeted raucously. For Ronaldo, closer in age to Conceicao senior than junior, the generation game made him a winner.