Portugal 2-1 Czechia: Conceicao's Last-Gasp Heroics Salvage Selecao On Ronaldo's Landmark Outing

Francisco Conceicao emerged as the hero in his first competitive appearance for Portugal, scoring a stoppage-time winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Czechia in their Euro 2024 opener. Cristiano Ronaldo, making history as the first player to appear in six European Championships, saw his landmark moment overshadowed by Portugal's promising future.

Conceicao was introduced after 90 minutes and scored just two minutes later, capitalising on a loose ball to send Portugal level on points with leaders Turkiye, who defeated Georgia 3-1 earlier on Tuesday in Group F. Robin Hranac's own-goal had earlier cancelled out Lukas Provod's second-half opener before Conceicao's decisive strike at Leipzig Stadium.

Francisco Conceicao wins it late for Portugal #EURO2024 | #PORCZE pic.twitter.com/YbM4fAfT0J

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 18, 2024

Roberto Martinez's team, the only side to win every qualifying game for this tournament with a perfect 10 wins, dominated the first half of their opener without reward. Ronaldo nearly marked his historic appearance with a goal just eight minutes in but missed an unmarked header from Rafael Leao's cross.

Bruno Fernandes came close with a deflected long-range effort and a teasing ball that just evaded Leao. Fernandes also set up Ronaldo for a point-blank shot, which was brilliantly saved by Czechia goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek. Stanek continued to frustrate Portugal, parrying another Ronaldo strike before halftime.

Portugal completed 368 passes in the first half, their most on record in a single half at the European Championships since records began in 1980. Despite their dominance, they went into the break goalless.

Second-Half Drama and Conceicao's Heroics

Ronaldo tested Stanek again with a dipping free-kick before Provod stunned Portugal by scoring from the edge of Diogo Costa's area. A swift response followed as Stanek parried Leao's header against Hranac, resulting in an own-goal to level the score.

Diogo Jota had a late finish ruled out by VAR after Ronaldo was deemed offside before his rebounded strike. However, Conceicao pounced on Pedro Neto's half-cleared cross to secure all three points for Portugal.

Portugal 2-1 Czech Republic Francisco Conceicao steals the win with a 92nd minute winner for Portugal. Czech Rep had taken the lead with less than half an hour left, but Portugal came from behind to win their opening game of #Euro2024. pic.twitter.com/aLThzFZphT

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 18, 2024

Ronaldo's Historic Appearance

Ronaldo already holds the record for most appearances in European Championship history (26), and this outing marked another milestone for the 39-year-old. Having featured at every Euros since his debut in 2004, Ronaldo is now the first player to participate in six editions of the tournament. His 14 goals make him the leading scorer in European Championship history.

The former Manchester United attacker could not add to his tally here. It was reminiscent of previous Euros for Ronaldo, who missed the 2016 final victory over France due to injury. Eder stepped up as the hero then, and Conceicao followed suit this time with his goal coming just 111 seconds after being introduced—the fastest such goal since Ferran Torres for Spain against Slovakia in June 2021 (41 seconds).

Czechia's Struggles and Schick's Performance

Patrik Schick scored five of Czechia's six goals at Euro 2020, becoming only the second Czech player to be top scorer at a European Championship tournament after Milan Baros in 2004 (five goals). The forward has since helped Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten league season with seven top-flight goals.

Despite his record at the Euros and recent successes, Schick was withdrawn on the hour after being cautioned and failing to manage a single shot. Czechia could not have anticipated Conceicao's late intervention and must now regroup ahead of their match against Georgia on Saturday.