For 85 minutes, it seemed like Hungary could manage to hold incumbent European Champions Portugal to a tie, just like they had done 5 years ago – though in a more spectacular fashion. But then, defender Willi Orban unluckily deflected the ball into his own net, and from then on it was child’s play for Cristiano Ronaldo and co. to wrap the game with two more goals to kick off their Euro 2020 campaign in an emphatic fashion.
It ended 3-0 at a Puskas Arena in Budapest, filled with the 61,000 spectators that made themselves heard loud and clear and bestowed a standing ovation to the home side despite the heavy loss. After all, the selection coached by Italian Marco Rossi did manage to keep a clean sheet until almost the very end of the game – though with some help from their goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
But then, it was Cristiano Ronaldo to cannibalize the game with a performance of his. By simply setting foot on the pitch today, CR7 broke yet another record as he became the first player to have competed in five consecutive editions of the European Championship – from 2004 to today. Not happy with that, he also bagged a brace, which made him the all-time top scorer in the Euro Cup at 11, distancing a certain Michel Platini.
The fun thing is, Ronaldo didn’t even seem to be in one of his best days as, on 43 minutes, he failed an easy tap-in from point blank range, shooting the ball into the stands from a Bruno Fernandes cross.
But then, after Orban’s unlucky deflection from substitute Raphael Guerreiro’s shot, he stepped up to the task to convert a penalty for Portugal’s second and slotted the ball home after dribbling Gulacsi to set the score at 3-0. The stage for a stellar clash with France’s Kylian Mbappé – whom he will face on June 23 is set.
11 – After his second goal against Hungary, Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored as many goals at the European Championship as Hungary (11). Hunger. #POR #EURO2020 #HUNPOR pic.twitter.com/vZiwNojJLr
— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) June 15, 2021
MATCH SCORECARD
June 15, 2021 – European Championship 2020 Group F
HUNGARY-PORTUGAL 0-3
SCORERS: 85′ Guerreiro, 87′ Cristiano Ronaldo pen., 92′ Cristiano Ronaldo
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HUNGARY (3-5-2): Gulacsi; Botka, Orban, Szalai; Lovrencics, Kleinheisler (77′ Siger), Nagy (90′ Varga R.), Schafer (65′ Nego), Fiola (88′ Varga K.); Szalai, Sallai (77′ Schon) (Bogdan, Bolla, Cseri, Dibusz, Kecskes, Lang, Nikolics) Coach: Rossi |
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PORTUGAL (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Semedo, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Guerreiro; Danilo, William Carvalho (81′ Sanches), Bruno Fernandes (91′ Moutinho); Bernardo Silva (70′ Rafa), Diogo Jota (81′ André Silva), Cristiano Ronaldo (Fonte, Joao Felix, Lopes, Mendes, Neves, Pedro Goncalves, Sergio Oliveira, Rui Silva) Coach: Santos |
REFEREE: Cakir (Turkey)
NOTES: Yellow Card: Nego, Orban (H) Ruben Dias (P)