Wednesday 27 / November / 2024
Budapest: Defending champions Portugal kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 victory against Hungary on Tuesday in the ongoing Euro 2020.
Portugal talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo who was playing his record fifth European Championship tournament stole the headlines with a late brace in the match as his two goals in the victory took him to 11 -- the most goals scored in the Euro's history before Raphael Guerreiro deflected shot opened the scoring for the 2016 champions just six minutes before the full-time against the home team. Hungary started the match on a good note in front of 60,000 capacity Puskas Arena as they stopped Portugal from converting their chances, with Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, and Bernardo Silva all guilty of squandering opportunities before the break.
The second half witnessed more ball possession and aggression from the home team as they looked to surprise Portugal's defense in their flashy counter-attacks. Deep in the second half, away team frustration increased as Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes went close with an effort from outside the box and producing a great save from Hungary's goalkeeper Peter Gulasci.
With the match going towards a goalless draw, reigning champions shifted their gears against lethargic Hungary as Borussia Dortmund's Guerreiro broke the deadlock with a deflected finish before Ronaldo took the matter in his own hands. After dispatching a clinical penalty into the bottom-right corner, sending Gulasci the wrong way, he played a lovely couple of one-twos with Rafa Silva as he took the ball around the goalkeeper and slotted it into the back of the empty net in the additional time.
Portugal now sits at the top of the board in Group F before they take on Germany in Munich on June 19 while Hungary's next game is against France on the same day.
