It was the late show for Portugal against Hungary last night, as Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the closing minutes to help his team cruise to a 3-0 win in their opening match of EURO 2020.
It was Raphael Guerreiro who struck first for the defending champions, and their talismanic leader got on the scoresheet from the spot when Rafa Silva was brought down in the penalty area.
But the best passage of play from the afternoon was yet to come, and it inevitably arrived when Portugal strung together a long series of passes to carve out their best opportunity in front of goal.
Ronaldo was in the centre of it all, acting as the focal point for the Portuguese unit to pass the ball around the Hungarian backline who seemed very determined not to concede a third.
But it was not to be for them, as Portugal kept interchanging quick passes on the right flank – causing overloads in dangerous positions while constantly threatening to break in.
They probed and probed, and finally found their way in when Ronaldo interchanged passes with the substitute Rafa Silva and made his way into the box.
Silva topped it off with an incisive pass to feed Ronaldo in on goal, and despite Hungary’s efforts to play the offside trap, he stayed onside.
When one on one with the goalkeeper, there was only going to be one outcome – the Juventus man expertly rounded Peter Gulacsi and slotted the ball into the back of the net.
The finish capped off an incredible move that consisted of 33 passes and put the seal on the result as the defending champions started their title defence on the front foot.
Despite individual brilliance stealing the show every once in a while, football is best played as a team sport – and Portugal’s goal was the best example of how an incredible team move is one of the best things in the sport.
Check out the aerial version of the full move below –
