In what was the game of Euro 2016 so far, Hungary and Portugal played out an incredible 3-3 draw with four goals coming in the second half in Lyon. It was a do-or-die match for the Portuguese side, who had not clicked in this tournament, but Fernando Santos’ team pulled through just when they needed to the most and ensured they just about made it to the knockout round of the competition.
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It was Hungary who took the lead through an incredible effort from outside the box by Zoltan Gera. Portugal, though, equalised thanks to Nani before Balazs Dzsudzsak and Cristiano Ronaldo exchanged goals back and forth to make it 3-3.
Ronaldo did create history as he became the first player to score in four different Euro competitions, just days after breaking the record of having the most number of appearances for Portugal.
The draw was enough for Portugal to qualify as one of the third best-placed teams in the competition, while Hungary, surprisingly finished the group on top. Iceland finished as the second placed team in this group and it will be interesting to see how Portugal performs in the next stage of the competition.
The game had almost everything you want in a football match, from excellent defending in the first half to a glut of goals in the second, and we list out the five talking points from the entertaining tie.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo finally gets going
There was a lot riding on Ronaldo’s shoulders in this game, Portugal needed a win to guarantee a place in the round-of-16 and a draw could have seen them exit the tournament.
The Portuguese team have always relied on Ronaldo and he delivered just when they needed him to. After a quiet first half, where he did provide Nani with the assist for the first equaliser, the Real Madrid forward came to life to help Portugal get back level, twice.
The first goal was fantastic as Ronaldo flicked a ball past Gabor Kiraly via a back-heel and the second was breath-taking as he rose high to glance in a header. Portugal are through to the next round and Ronaldo seems to have found his scoring boots again, the other teams have been warned!
2) Balazs Dzsudzsak almost usurped Ronaldo
While all eyes were on the Portugal captain, the other captain also had an incredible game and had it been for better defending from his team, Hungary could have celebrated a fantastic result against one of the better sides in the world.
Balazs Dzsudzsak was exceptionally brilliant for Hungary and although you could say that both of his goals could have been stopped, he tormented the Portuguese defence in the first half and could have done a lot more damage to the side.
Not many would have expected Balazs to be at the top of his game, especially since he is playing in Turkey for Bursaspor but there is no doubt that he is on fire at the moment and could be the other key player for Hungary after Gabor Kiraly.
3) Nani needs to learn how to defend
Portugal’s job could have been so much easier, if only Nani wasn’t scared of running and blocking a shot. Zoltan Gera gave Hungary the lead in the first half as he lashed in from outside the box but as Nani ran it to try and block it, the former Manchester United winger inexplicably turned his back and didn’t do enough to stop the Hungarian from scoring.
You normally learn from your mistakes and then try not to repeat them but the Portugal star didn’t cover himself in glory as his touch deflected the third goal in for Hungary and left Rui Patricio helpless in goal for the Portuguese.
Nani was lucky to have Ronaldo firing again, had it not been for the goals of the Real Madrid man, Portugal would have been on their way home and a large part of the blame would have been on Nani.
4) An incredible journey for Hungary
It certainly is surprising to see Hungary qualify from the group, especially since they had to defeat Norway over a two-legged playoff to make it to Euro 2016. They didn’t have a great qualifying campaign as well and not many expected them to actually make it out of this group as well, let alone top it.
Austria were disappointing and so were Portugal but Hungary were the surprise performers and now have a chance of making it further as they are set to play the runners-up of Group E.
That might not be the best thing for the side as they could face Belgium but it has been a fantastic ride for the Hungarians and if they do perform as they did in the group stages, they could still pull another rabbit out of the hat.
5) How far can Portugal go?
While many would bemoan the fact that Portugal actually qualified third from their group, it isn’t all bad news thanks to the new and rather confusing qualification scenario for the knockout rounds.
Portugal ended up on the easier side of the draw as they avoided the likes of Spain, Italy, Germany, England and France. Ronaldo’s side though have to face a tough Croatian side, which recently defeated Spain and will not be pushovers.
Either way, the fact that Portugal pulled through before even hitting top gear and with Ronaldo finally finding his shooting boots, this could lead to a long run in the tournament for Portugal and with this possibly being the last Euro for the Real Madrid star, he could finish the Euros as the top scorer and maybe with a medal as well.
