There were no surprises in the match between Türkiye and Portugal when the European Selecao won 3-0. Although Cristiano Ronaldo did not score a goal, he had an assist to help Portugal officially win a ticket to the 1/8 round with first place.
Coach Roberto Martinez made a notable change in Portugal’s squad compared to the win over the Czech Republic. That means letting Joao Palhinha start and Diogo Dalot as a substitute while also switching from a 3-4-3 to a 4-4-3 formation.
And it seems that this change makes Portugal’s gameplay smoother.
The ball is still given a lot to superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, but his shots are not difficult enough to beat the Bayindir goalkeeper. And while CR7 has not spoken yet, another star has made his mark. In the 21st minute,
Rafael Leao coordinated with Nuno Mendes on the left wing before Mendes brought the ball inside for Bernardo Silva to tap in from close range to open the score.
Just 7 minutes later, Portugal doubled the gap. In a situation where there was no danger, midfielder Samet Akaydin carelessly passed back without observing goalkeeper Altay Bayindir who had stepped forward. The ball slowly rolled into the net despite the efforts of Bayindir and Bardakci to retreat and clear it.
Having an early lead of 2 goals, Portugal played extremely comfortably. Their stars confidently finish as soon as they have the chance. Meanwhile, Türkiye also had its own opportunities but could not defeat goalkeeper Diogo Costa. The first half ended without any more goals scored.
Entering the second half, Portugal played quite slowly as they took the lead with a safe enough gap. They waited for the opponent to make a mistake and this happened in the 56th minute.
Ronaldo broke the offside trap to face Bayindir but he did not finish but instead stretched for Fernandes to cushion the ball into the Turkish net. This is Ronaldo’s first assist at EURO 2024 and also his 8th assist in the history of this tournament.
In the remaining minutes, despite his best efforts, Ronaldo could not score. Anyway, Portugal won and officially won a ticket to the 1/8 round with first place. They have 6 points, 3 points more than the 2nd ranked team, Türkiye, but better in terms of confrontation. In the remaining match of Group F, Georgia excellently held the Czech Republic to a 1-0 draw. This result makes the Czech Republic and Georgia ranked 3rd and 4th respectively with the same point.