Euro 2024 Day 5
Portugal Edges Out Czechs Late, Turks and Georgians Put on a Football Show
New Records Set and Broken!
The fifth day of the European Championship in Germany featured two matches from the final Group “F,” completing the first round of the group stage.
The first match was held in Dortmund. Pitting Turkey against debutants Georgia, teams theoretically expected to compete for the second spot in the group. Turkey won 3-1, though the score might be misleading as the Georgians played exceptionally well and could have earned one or three points had they converted some of their numerous chances.
Favorites Turkey took the lead with a fantastic goal from Mert Müldür in the first half before Georgia equalized through Giorgi Kochorashvili.
The teams went into the second half tied, and Real Madrid’s super talent Arda Güler showcased his class with another sensational goal of the tournament. At 19 and 114 days old, Güler became the youngest player to score in his European Championship debut, breaking one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s records. Ronaldo had scored for Portugal in their 1-2 loss to Greece in the opening match of Euro 2004.
Georgia missed several chances, including in the final moments when their goalkeeper joined the attack, but instead of equalizing, they conceded a third goal.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu scored into an empty net in the last seconds of the match. Unfortunately, the match was marred by ugly scenes in the stands, with fans from both teams clashing and Turkish supporters booing the Georgian national anthem.
In the second match of the day, they played in Leipzig, Portugal, and also, in their role as favorites, defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 but were not impressed with their performance. The Czechs were solid in defense and limited their opponents in the first half.
They even shocked Portugal with a beautiful goal by Lukáš Provod in the second half. Portugal quickly equalized through an own goal by Robin Hranáč, and in the 92nd minute, completed the comeback with the same defender making a crucial mistake, gifting a goal to Francisco Conceição.
Portugal’s superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, has already broken his first two records of Euro 2024. By starting the match against the Czech Republic, which was his team’s first in the tournament in Germany, the 39-year-old forward became the only player in history to participate in six editions of the tournament.
His first European Championship was in Portugal in 2004, and he has not missed a single championship since.
Behind him are his compatriot Pepe and Croatian Luka Modrić, for whom Euro 2024 is their fifth such tournament.
Additionally, Portugal’s captain’s match against the Czech Republic was his 26th in the tournament, breaking his own record for most appearances in the European Championship.
Second on the list is again Pepe, for whom this was his 20th match in the European finals. In his previous 25 matches, Cristiano has scored 14 goals, another tournament record.
Thus, Turkey leads the standings with three points, the same as second-placed Portugal. The Czech Republic is in third place, and Georgia is last.
Turkiye – Georgia 3:1
M.Muldur (25′), A.Guler ( 65′), K.Akturkoglu (90+7′) ; G.Mikautadze (32′)
Portugal – Czech Republic 2:1
R.Hranac ( 69′ Own Goal), F.Conceisao (90+2′) ; L.Provod (62′)
Group F
1.Turkiye 3pts
2.Portugal 3pts
3.Czech Republic 0pts
4.Georgia 0pts
Upcoming matches in Group F:
-Jun 22: Turkiye – Portugal
-Jun 22: Georgia – Czech Republic