Portugal 2-1 Czechia: Seleção complete comeback in added time

Portugal made a winning start to UEFA EURO 2024 as Francisco Conceição struck in added time to see off a dogged Czechia side in Leipzig.

Match in brief: Portugal forced to dig deep

Portugal set the tone from the off, moving the ball around calmly, crisply and accurately, but they found little space to prosper against a well-organised Czechia defence, which also dealt competently with the consistent stream of early crosses into their box.

Bruno Fernandes came closest to picking the lock in the first half, bisecting the Czechia rearguard to find Cristiano Ronaldo in the 32nd minute, but his strike was repelled by Jindřich Staněk. Ronaldo, appearing in a record sixth EURO finals, was again thwarted by Ivan Hašek's No1 on the stroke of half-time to end a frustrating period for the Seleção.

Jindřich Staněk keeps out Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half effortAFP via Getty Images

The pressure exerted by Roberto Martínez's charges continued to mount after the interval, but it was Czechia, from a rare counter, who broke the deadlock when Lukáš Provod expertly dispatched Vladimír Coufal's lay-off in off the far post.

However, the Národní tým could not bed in that advantage and they were pegged back seven minutes later when Staněk could only parry Nuno Mendes's header against Robin Hranáč and watch the ricochet drop into his net.

Hranáč's misfortune would not end there, though, as his attempt to block Pedro Neto's added-time cross presented another substitute, Francisco Conceição, with the chance to fire in a close-range winner. Late – but deserved nonetheless.

Vivo Player of the Match: Vitinha (Portugal)

Controlled the tempo of the game and had a high number of passes and percentage completion. Made important interceptions too.
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Carlos Machado, Portugal reporter

Portugal appeared set for a disappointing draw until Francisco Conceição's late intervention. They had lots of chances, Staněk was brilliant between the posts, but the fact is that their goals both had a touch of fortune and they were also given problems by Czechia. The Seleção lacked ideas in the final third and they will need to approach the next game against Türkiye differently to avoid dropping points.

Ondřej Zlámal, Czechia reporter

Czechia put in a very organised defensive performance and showed effectiveness in attack. Staněk put in probably the best performance of his career and was helped by his defenders in several vital situations. The next game against Georgia will definitely require more attacking output, however.

Robin Hranáč's own goal levels the scoresUEFA via Getty Images

Reaction

Roberto Martínez, Portugal coach: "Things were tough for us today, but for the way they reacted, we deserved to win. Francisco is the ultimate example of 'earning it'. He showed he was ready to help the squad. He's a very mature player and has a nose for danger in the box. Francisco is doing what he has done for the past four months for his club team. It's not easy; he showed character and his worth."

Ivan Hašek, Czechia coach: "I have to admit it is a big pity that we did not finish our work; it was close. We made it very difficult for Portugal, one of the best teams in the world. We are all disappointed to have conceded in the additional time. We have to put it behind us very quickly; in four days we will play a key game. We will need to improve as it was not an ideal performance from us."

Bernardo Silva, Portugal midfielder: "It's a relief. When Czechia scored, it was difficult to turn the game around. But we managed to get more men into the box, especially after the changes. We needed it; we lacked it in the first half. But it's only three points – nothing more, nothing less. Teams respect Portugal a lot, and for a large part of the game they defend very low. They close the interior area a lot."

Lukáš Provod, Czechia midfielder: "It is difficult to describe our feelings because a point was very close. We have to keep our heads up and admit Portugal were the better side tonight, but I still think we deserved a point as the goals we conceded were a bit unlucky. It was not our plan to defend so deeply, but with the rotations in the midfield – when they have five, six players in the middle – it was very difficult to put pressure on them at all. But I think our defence played a top game."

Key stats

Pepe (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) sing the Portuguese anthem on their landmark nightAFP via Getty Images

• Ronaldo became the first player to make an appearance in six EURO final tournaments.
• Pepe became the oldest player to feature in a EURO final tournament match at the age of 41 years and 113 days – breaking the previous record held by Gábor Király (40 years and 86 days).
• Pepe has now appeared in five successive EURO final tournaments, something only achieved by Ronaldo (six) and Luka Modrić, and he also became only the second player to reach 20 appearances at the finals after Ronaldo (26).
• This match – the 12th at EURO 2024 – was the first to be goalless at half-time.
• Portugal have won their last five matches against Czechia (F12 A2).
• Czechia have won only three of their last 12 EURO group stage matches (D2 L7).

Line-ups

Portugal: Diogo Costa; Dalot (Gonçalo Inácio 63), Pepe, Rúben Dias; João Cancelo (Nélson Semedo 90), Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha (Francisco Conceição 90), Nuno Mendes (Pedro Neto 90); Ronaldo, Rafael Leão (Diogo Jota 63)

Czechia: Staněk; Holeš (Chorý 90+3), Hranáč, Krejčí; Coufal, Šulc (Ševčík 79), Souček, Provod (Barák 79), Douděra; Kuchta (Lingr 60), Schick (Chytil 60)