DPA
Dortmund/Hamburg
Portugal coasted into the Euro 2024 last 16 as Group F winners on Saturday after they were helped by a bizarre own goal from Turkiye in a 3-0 victory.
Earlier in the same group, Georgia picked up their first point at a major tournament but let the lead slip in a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic in a tale of two handballs.
Bernardo Silva scored Portugal’s opener in the 21st minute and they increased their lead in the 28th after Samet Akaydin’s reckless no-look backpass went past goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and into the net, despite Bayindir’s desperate attempt to keep the ball out.
The 2016 Euro champions put the game to bed in the 56th as captain Cristiano Ronaldo gave up a memorable goal to assist Bruno Fernandes.
At 39, Ronaldo is one goal away from of becoming the oldest scorer in European championship history, and the first to score at six finals.
Portugal complete the group stage against Georgia on Wednesday, while Turkiye will need at least a point against the Czechs to go through.
As group winners, Portugal will play a third-place finisher in the last 16 on July 1 in Frankfurt.
“We’re very happy. We have to work a lot because we haven’t reached our goal yet. We’re on a good path and today Portugal had a good performance,” Man of the Match Bernardo Silva told broadcasters RTP.
Turkiye had a huge chance for the opener when Zeki Çelik crossed to the area, but Kerem Aktürkoglu couldn’t complete his effort from close range in the sixth.
It was eventually Portugal who found a breakthrough in the 22nd. Nuno Mendes’s cross to the area was missed by Ronaldo, but Bernardo Silva was right behind him to hit a powerful first-time strike and score his first goal for Portugal at a major tournament.
The game was still balanced but Turkiye made a horrible mistake to gift Portugal the second.
The Turkish defence recovered the ball in their own half, but Samet Akaydin’s irresponsible backpass went past goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who was outside the box.
The ball then fell into the net despite Bayindir and Çelik’s efforts to keep it out.
Turkiye quickly tried to pull one back but Aktürkoglu’s shot was kept out by Diogo Costa’s foot at the keeper’s near post before the half-time.
Portugal had no rush after the break, comfortably passing the ball around before Ronaldo broke free to receive a long through pass, but rather than going for the goal himself, he fed Fernandes, who just tapped the ball between the post.
“Of course everyone wants to score, but that’s not the most important and you saw that with my goal.
“Cris is our best scorer and when he had the opportunity to score, he gave me the ball,” Fernandes said.
“It shows what it means to us, to win games and not score goals.”
Turkiye captain Hakan Calhanoglu was already thinking about the match against the Czechs, saying: “We have to recover and then give our best to win the game.”
