Turkey star makes social media post after coming up against Cristiano Ronaldo in Euro 2024 clash

Turkey defender Merih Demiral has posted a picture of himself hugging Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo following their Euro 2024 clash on Saturday (June 22) in Dortmund. The two were teammates at Juventus.

Coming to the aforementioned game, Ronaldo's Portugal emerged comfortable 3-0 winners. After Bernardo Silva had given the 2016 champions a 21st-minute lead, Samet Akaydin's disastrous backpass to his goalkeeper seven minutes later made it 2-0.

Ten minutes after the break, Ronaldo led a breakaway attack and bore clean through on the Turkish club. However, unselfishly, the 39-year-old squared to his teammate Bruno Fernandes, who made no mistake from point-blank range for a simple tap-in into an empty net when Ronaldo could have scored himself.

While he's still looking to get off the mark at Euro 2024, the A Selecao captain went level with Czech Republic legend Karol Poborsky (eight) for most assists at the European Championships. Following the game, Demiral posted a picture of himself hugging Cristiano Ronaldo on his Instagram stories.

The same was tweeted by TeamCRonaldo and is as follows:

The win confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.'s place in the knockouts as group winners with a game to spare, having registered a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in their Euro 2024 opener.

---

"We're growing game by game" - Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal coach after beating Turkey in Euro 2024

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez reckons his team played at the same level as they did in their opener. Despite the final scoreline, he acknowledged that it wasn't an 'easy' win.

The Spaniard said (as per UEFA) after his team sealed their passage in the knockouts that he can sense their growth as they prepare for sterner opposition in subsequent games:

"We played at the same level as the first game. Scoring first changed what Turkey could do.

"We had good defensive focus and controlled the game better. Being first in the group is very important, there are many players in the dressing room who deserve to play, we can see their competitiveness during the tournament. We're growing game by game, but this wasn't an easy game."

Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. take on Georgia in their final group game on Wednesday (June 26) in Gelsenkirchen in what's essentially a dead rubber for them now.

However, Georgia need a win to book their place in the knockouts and the Czechs beat Turkey in the other group game, provided they improve their goal difference and goals scored.