Portugal 3-1 Czech Republic
Luis Felipe Scolari's Portugal side became the first side to book their place in the knockout stages of Euro 2008 when they beat the Czech Republic 3-1. Goals from Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma saw the Portuguese overcome the 2004 semifinalists fairly comfortably. The Czechs now have all to play for in their last group game against Turkey.
Karel Bruckner opted to start with Euro 2004 top scorer Milan Baros instead of the off colour Jan Koller upfront. Matejovsky started ahead of David Jarolim in the five man Czech midfield. Portugal opted for the same lineup that had beaten Turkey 2-0. Scolari's boys took the lead in the eighth minute, with an extremely scrappy goal from midfielder Deco. Cech almost gained control of the ball, but Deco's feet acted at the right time and he managed to squeeze it home. The Czech Republic responded nine minutes later, with Libor Sionko heading home from a Jaroslav Plasil corner.
Both teams packed their midfield, opting to play for with just one striker upfront. As Portugal tried to find the second goal, Petr Cech was tested with a few long range shots, primarily from Deco and Ronaldo. Portugal upped the ante in the second half, and their pressure paid off when a beautiful pass from Deco saw Ronaldo send a low shot past Cech from just inside the box in the 63rd minute. The Czechs nearly got their equaliser at the other end, but Libor Sionko's header was just off target.
As the minutes ticked by, the Czechs, as one would expect them, pushed men forward. They were caught on the counter, and Cristiano Ronaldo, displaying great maturity, squared the ball for substitute Ricardo Quaresma to tap home. The performances of some of the Portuguese players, in particular Petit and Simao left lot to be desired, but for now, they are into the last eight!
Czech Republic starting XI: Cech, Grygera, Jankulovski, Ujfalusi, Rozehnal Galasek (Koller ), Sionko, Matejovsky (Vlcek ), Polak, Plasil (Jarolim ), Baros.
Portugal starting XI: Ricardo, Bosingwa, Petit,Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira, Joao Moutinho ( Meira ), Ronaldo, Deco, Simao (Quaresma ), Nuno Gomes ( Almeida ).
Tags:
Portugal,
Euro 2008,
Deco,
Karel Bruckner,
Czech Republic,
Libor Sionko,
Petr Cech,
Cristiano Ronaldo,
Ricardo Quaresma
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