On the last match day of the third round of the group stage of the European Cup, two major highlights have whetted the appetite of fans: one is Portugal, which has already qualified, can the star Cristiano Ronaldo set a record of scoring in the group stage of six European Championships, and the other is that the four teams with 3 points in Group E will be promoted or eliminated, who will Lady Luck favor?
Around these "heavenly questions", the participating teams staged the "final madness". On this night, many proud records were broken, and many embarrassing records were extended.
Let's start with the record-breaking achievement of "another first time in history".
Georgia, who are playing in the European Championship for the first time, are ranked 74th in the world, but it is this third-tier European team that not only beat Portugal by two goals to play a high-level game, but also set a great record of reaching the round of 16 in their first major appearance.
Georgia achieved a goal score, draw a game, win a game, and their striker Mikatadze led the scorers with three goals from the penalty spot in the second half, with goalkeeper Madashvili leading the scorers with three goals. As the saying goes, the goalkeeper of the weak team, if this is a by-product of poor strength, then the third-rate team produces the top scorer, which is really a miracle.
It was a Georgian outright victory, and it was completely unexpected. Just one and a half minutes into the opening period, the 23-year-old took advantage of a mistake from Portuguese defender Antonio Silva to strike home from a return pass. The Georgian winger, nicknamed KK, ran all over the pitch and single-handedly turned Portugal's defense upside down, not only leading the team to make history, but also experiencing what it was like to score in front of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
KK and Georgia not only "humiliated" Portugal, but also made Ronaldo's horror record obsolute. In the first five European Championships, Ronaldo won in the group stage, and if you count the World Cup, Ronaldo has scored in the group stage of 10 consecutive major tournaments. Before the game, it was generally believed that Georgia was unlucky, and in order for Ronaldo to continue this unprecedented record, the Portuguese team will also try their best to be the big brother. But at the end of the game, Ronaldo only had one free kick on the goal, barely giving people hope. couldn't equalize for a long time, so coach Martinez also gave up the idea of "Yucheng Ronaldo" and replaced him early.
It is comforting that although Portugal unfortunately lost, they still qualified from the group. As long as Cristiano Ronaldo spends one more minute on the pitch, he will always set a proud record for the most appearances in the European Championship. No, he is by far the most shots on goal in the tournament with 12 shots (5 on target).
Look at the "embarrassing continuation" again.
Slovakia, another team considered underdogs, have progressed to the knockout stages of the World Series for the third time since World Cup 2010 and Euro 2016, but they have failed to win their final group game on all three occasions and their record continues.
The Ukrainian team also set a "historical first", however, this "first" was extremely embarrassing.
In the first two rounds of Group E, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine are tied on three points, with Ukraine finishing last on goal difference. Therefore, only by defeating Belgium in the final battle can we go ashore safely without looking at the faces of others. But there was an unprecedented scene in the history of the European Championship: both matches ended in a draw, with all four teams tied on four points. The hapless Ukrainian team became the first team to be eliminated in the group stage with 4 points after the expansion of 24 teams in the European Championship due to the disadvantage of goal difference.
This game also set an embarrassing record by Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who had the most shots on target but has not scored a goal so far. You tasted it carefully, is this embarrassing to get home?
Interestingly, the referees have also joined the queue to set embarrassing records. The Czech Republic lost 1:2 to Turkey on the premise of winning to advance, perhaps because of too much pressure and too much force, and the two teams were shown a total of 18 yellow cards and 2 red cards, setting a European Championship record. Among them, the Czech Republic received 7 yellows and 2 reds, while Turkey received 11 yellow cards.
This is also the craziest law enforcement record set by referee Kovacs. The card master was disqualified by UEFA for his frequent dealings in the last two quarter-finals of the Champions League, both of which were 9 yellows and 1 red. Some fans ridiculed that such a card master, fighting a landlord can only be called a landlord, and there are not enough cards in the hands of a farmer......
After the glory and embarrassment, the top 16 were all placed. With a night of "madness" like this, there's no reason why we shouldn't expect the knockout stages to continue with a crazy football feast.
Source: CCTV