Portugal on Saturday outclassed Turkey to secure their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Euro 2024 with a 3-0 win in Dortmund, while Belgium kept their hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over Romania.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese side, European champions in 2016, are among the favorites to win the title in Germany and they lived up to their status with a comprehensive victory in front of a partisan crowd to secure first place in Group F.
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City opened the scoring midway through the first half, sweeping the ball home after a low Nuno Mendes cross was deflected into his path.
Photo: Reuters
Portugal then doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark in comical fashion.
There appeared no danger for the Turkey defense following a poor pass by Joao Cancelo aimed at Ronaldo, but Samet Akaydin’s attempted backpass rolled beyond the reach of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and crossed the line despite the efforts of Zeki Celik to clear.
Turkey never looked like getting back into the game and Portugal got their third goal early in the second half as Ronaldo found himself in on goal, but unselfishly squared for Bruno Fernandes to finish.
Having already beaten the Czech Republic 2-1, Portugal are one of only three sides to have a maximum six points from their opening two games and are certain to win the section even before playing Georgia in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday.
They know they would play a last-16 tie in Frankfurt on Monday next week against one of the best third-place finishers.
“We are first in the group and we can make changes in the next game, which for me is very important as there are lots of players in the dressing room who deserve to play,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said.
Ronaldo, appearing at his sixth Euros at the age of 39, would become the tournament’s oldest ever goal-scorer if he finds the net in Germany, but he failed to add to his competition record tally of 14 here.
The superstar forward, now playing in Saudi Arabia, was also approached for a selfie by several pitch invaders in the second half.
While he enjoyed the attention the first time, posing with a smile for a photograph in the center circle, he appeared irritated as the number of invaders grew.
Martinez admitted the ease with which so many fans got into the playing area was a concern.
“It is a concern because today we were lucky that the intentions of the fans were good,” he said.
Earlier, Georgia claimed a historic first ever point at a major tournament in a 1-1 draw with the Czechs.
Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to Slovakia was the major shock of the opening round, but they made the most of a fast start in Cologne to get their tournament back on track.
Youri Tielemans blasted in inside two minutes from Romelu Lukaku’s lay-off to burst Romania’s bubble after their impressive 3-0 win over Ukraine in the opening game in Group E.
Lukaku, who had two goals disallowed against Slovakia, was again denied by the finest of offside calls in a pulsating second half.
Valentin Mihaila and Dennis Man had chances to level for Romania, but Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne rounded off a fine individual display with the second goal to seal victory 10 minutes from time.
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