LEIPZIG, Germany, June 18 – Francisco Conceicao stepped off the bench to score a last-gasp winner as Portugal edged a stubborn Czech Republic 2-1 in their Group F Euro 2024 opener on Tuesday night.
The Euro 2016 champions were dominant in the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of missing an open chance whereas Bruno Fernandes’ long range strike just whistled above the bar.
AC Milan winger Rafael Leao could not get onto the end of a sumptuous Fernandes’ pass, failing to stretch his legs wide enough as the ball sailed past, begging for the slightest of touches to hit the back of the net.
The Czech’s returned from the dressing room much braver than the first half, often venturing into the Portuguese half as their more erstwhile opponents left gaps behind them.
They were finally rewarded in the 62nd minute when Lukas Provod side footed a rocket into the right top corner past Diogo Costa in the Portuguese goal.
It was a strike that stunned the opposition into a silence and raised temperatures in the rainy Leipzig atmosphere.
With just under half an hour to the final whistle, there was still time for Roberto Martinez’s charges to avoid the fate that had befallen his former side — Belgium — who suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Slovakia a day earlier.
It seemed like the football gods were on their side when Vitinha’s cross in the 70th minute found leftback Nuno Mendes who headed it back across goal.
Czech keeper Jindrich Stanek — a wall for his side for the majority of the match — parried the seemingly harmless header which unfortunately ricocheted off Robin Hranac to give Portugal their much-needed equaliser.
Their appetite stirred by the equaliser, Portugal went for the kill and thought they had nicked the winner after substitute Diogo Jota headed a rebound from a Cristiano header into the bottom left corner.
However, the goal was chalked off for offside after Cristiano was adjudged to have been initially offside.
With the clock running out, Martinez introduced Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Porto’s Conceicao and the duo combined to eventually save their side’s blushes.
The twinkle toed Neto produced a moment of magic on the left wing before driving a shot-cum-pass into the box, which Hranac failed to comprehensively clear.
On hand was the 21-year-old Conceicao to fire past Stanek and follow in the footsteps of his father, Sergio — who scored a hattrick against Germany in Euro 2000.
