Portugal 2-1 Czechia: Francisco Conceicao scores late winner

Raging still against the dying of the light, fighting the years with every fibre of his being, chasing immortality with every step, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to play in six European Championship finals when he took the field for Portugal against Czech Republic at the Red Bull Arena.

He won his 208th cap, he basked in the adulation of supporters who still worship him, he played at the head of a lavishly talented side who did everything they could to set him up with what would have been his 15th goal at the tournament.

He flung himself at headers, went down in spectacular heaps, zipped a free kick over a wall and straight into the arms of the Czech keeper and saw a couple of shots beaten away. He didn’t let himself down but he is not Peter Pan, either. He might hate the idea but age has taken the edge off his genius.

But he fought and he fought and Roberto Martinez kept his 39-year-old talisman on to the bitter end. And just when it seemed the win was not going to come and Ronaldo’s record 26th appearance in the finals was going to end in a draw, the fairy-tale happened.

It didn’t happen for him but it did happen for his team and this iteration of Cristiano behaves now as if that is enough, apparently. He is not the fitful presence he was at the 2022 World Cup when he could not come to terms with his fading importance to the side.

Portugal had already had what would have been one late winner ruled out by VAR but then Francisco Conceicao, who had only just come off the bench and was making his first competitive appearance for his country, popped up with another one deep in added time. It was wasn’t about the old guy after all. The young man was the hero.

And so the debate about whether Ronaldo is still worth his place, the debate that would have raged if this Portugal team that won every qualifying game, had not got past the Czechs, will not rage now. Cristiano is still the king of Europe. Portugal are off to a winning start.

When the Portugal line-up was read out before the warm-up, Ronaldo’s name was met with a great guttural roar from his fans behind one of the goals and he ran out on to the pitch punching the air and applauding each part of the ground where Portugal’s supporters were grouped.

When the Portuguese anthem was sung, and the camera lingered on Ronaldo’s face, there was not a trace of nerves to be seen. He just looked beatifically happy, like a big kid barely able to supress his energy.

There is something inspiring about that. All the riches he has, all the possessions, all the records, all the fame, all the followers and yet playing the game is still the thing that lifts him up more than anything.

When the countdown to the kick-off began, Ronaldo could not contain his enthusiasm any more. A few seconds before the referee blew his whistle, he sprinted away from the half-way line deep into the Czech half. The referee saw him but let it go.

The first chance of the game fell to him, inevitably. Rafael Leao cut inside from the left and curled a cross towards the penalty spot. Ronaldo rose to meet it but it was slightly behind him and he mistimed his header so that it thudded against his shoulder and fell limply to the floor.

There were also a number of crosses curled into the box – by Bernardo Silva, Nuno Mendes and Bruno Fernandes – that a younger man might at least have tried to reach. Ronaldo gave each pass a withering stare as it sped by him.

Portugal have youth and energy all around Ronaldo, though. Bernardo Silva’s work rate was astonishing, Nuno Mendes made break after break from the left side of defence, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes dominated midfield.

On the pitch, these men dominate this Portugal team now. Ronaldo might still be the side’s talisman but he is not its best player. There are several others vying together for that title now.

Portugal had more than 70 per cent of possession and they nearly made it pay midway through the half when Bruno Fernandes slid a ball across the box and Rafael Leao hurled himself at it alone in the middle. A touch would have diverted it in. He couldn’t quite reach it.

A couple of minutes later, Ronaldo wasted a golden opportunity to put Portugal ahead. He ran on to a brilliant through ball from Bruno Fernandes that beat the entire Czech defence but when he hit his shot on the turn, first time, Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek stood up to it and blocked it. Ronaldo looked utterly crestfallen.

He made one last chance for himself before the interval, getting the ball with his back to goal and spinning sharply, making space for a fierce shot that Stanek dived to punch away with both hands.

Ronaldo came close again 10 minutes after the break when he rose to meet a cross from Ruben Dias 10 yards out and powered his header goalwards. But Czech skipper Tomas Soucek got there just in time and Ronaldo’s header cannoned off Soucek’s head for a corner.

Ronaldo bent a free-kick over the wall but it was too central and saved comfortably by Stanek. A few minutes later, Bernardo Silva crossed when he should have shot. Portugal were looking for one moment of incisive quality but they could not find it.

The Czechs, however, could. Just over an hour had gone when Portugal failed to clear an opposition corner and the ball was played back to Lukas Provod, who was waiting on the edge of the area.

Provod curled it quite beautifully away from Diogo Costa in the Portugal goal and it flew just inside the post. The Czech players celebrated with their fans behind that goal. The Portugal players began gesturing at each other in a riot of recriminations.

The lead only lasted seven minutes. Portugal swung a cross deep to the back post where Nuno Mendes rose to head it down. Stanek tried to smother it but it bounced out of his hands, hit Robin Hranac on the shin and bounced into the net.

Substitute Diogo Jota had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside but then the Czechs failed to clear Pedro Neto’s cross and Conceicao forced the ball home to get Portugal, and Ronaldo, over the line.