On June 19, Beijing time, Portugal played the Czech Republic in the first round of Group F of the European Cup, which was also the last game of the first round. Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe made their debut, and the two veterans were also aiming for the first victory in the European Championship in Portugal on this rainy night.
Portugal is ranked 6th in the latest world rankings and 4th in Europe, as one of the favourites to win the European Championship, Portugal undoubtedly has a strong squad and deep heritage, looking back at the history of Portugal and the Czech Republic, in the past four matches, Portugal has defeated the Czech Republic with a winning attitude, showing its strong strength and tactical advantage. Especially in the 2022 UEFA Nations League, Portugal is even more feats of killing opponents twice. However, the Czech Republic has also reached the main round of the European Championship seven times, and has won a second and third place respectively, and is currently ranked 36th in the world.
At the beginning of the game, the Portuguese team put out a 343 formation Ronaldo and Pepe debuted, the Czech team put out a 3142 formation, in the eighth minute of the first half, Leao crossed, Ronaldo's header hit the goal wide, and in the 16th minute, Mendes shot from a distance again, in the first half, the Czech Republic mainly played deep defense, Portugal tried to shoot many times without success, in the 31st minute of the first half, Ronaldo failed to make a single shot, Vitinha did not score, Portugal failed to shoot 8 times in the first half, the Czech Republic only 1 time, and Portugal 0-0 Czech Republic at halftime. In the second half, the Czech Republic took one point thanks to Proward, but then Hlanacki sent Portugal to equalize with an own goal.
Portugal starters: 22-Diogo Costa, 5-Dalot, 4-Ruben Dias, 3-Pepe, 19-Nuno Mendes, 23-Vitinha, 8-B Fei, 20-Cancelo, 10-B, 17-Leao, 7-Ronaldo
Czech starters: 1-Starek, 3-Horaish, 4-Hranak, 5-Coufal, 12-Moral La, 18-Krejic, 14-Prokhonde, 22-Soucek, 25-Sulke, 10-Schick, 11-Kuchta