Portugal have punched their ticket to the EURO2024 knockout rounds in dominant fashion after a 3-0 victory over Türkiye.
Roberto Martínez’s men were helped out by their opponents along the way with a calamitous own goal being scored in the 28th minute after a breakdown in communication between Samet Akaydin and goalkeeper Altay Bayindir saw a no-look pass drift into a gaping net.
Another error in the second half, in which Cristiano Ronaldo beat the offside trap to perfection, sealed the Turks’ fate.
The Selecão das Quinas now go through as winners of Group F with only Georgia left to play. For Türkiye, a win over Czechia in their final group game would see them progress through to the knockouts in second place.
Here’s how both sets of players rated:
Türkiye
Altay Bayindir – 5
The Manchester United back up has played little club football over the last season and it showed. Being inserted into the lineup after an injury to Mert Gunok in training, he looked a little rusty, and his communication with his back line needed to be better – though he can’t be viewed as the main one at fault for their calamitous own goal.
Zeki Çelik- 4
It’s always a difficult task when you have to primarily defend a player like Rafael Leão, and he would have felt relieved in the second half with the player being brought off at half-time. However, he was caught out with his positioning and was partly at fault for Portugal’s third goal.
Samet Akaydin – 4
A no-look back pass to his keeper ended in disaster when it completely bypassed Bayindir and went into the back of the net for the sixth own goal recorded in this year’s tournament. Was forced off with injury with 15 minutes remaining, and he was probably a little bit relieved behind the pain.
Abdülkerim Bardakci – 5
Spent most of the game up against Ronaldo and the 39-year-old’s feet were still too quick for the defender.
Ferdi Kadioglu – 6
Had perhaps the most difficult task of defending Bernardo Silva, who was arguably one of the best players on the pitch, but did very well considering and tried to push his side forward by stepping up into midfield.
Yunus Akgün – 5
Relatively quiet and the game passed him by. He did make some good runs into the box, though.
Orkan Kökcü – 4
He made 41-year-old Pepe look back in his prime. Had virtually no impact on the game and was subbed at half-time as a result.
Kaan Ayhan – 5
Was the team’s primary playmaker but had little effect on the game.
Kerem Aktürkoglu – 5
Could have scored early on in the match but couldn’t sort his feet out quick enough, and was largely ineffective for the rest of the game.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu – 6
Worked hard in front of his backline and didn’t stop running the pitch all game. Great effort – just little reward this time.
Baris Alper Yilmaz – 4
Sitting duck at the top of the park. No service, no impact on the game. Not really his fault.
Substitutes
Yusuf Yazici – 5
Didn’t impact the game much more than Kökcü did in the first half.
Arda Güler – 6
Despite scoring a spectacular goal in their opening match, the 19-year-old would see only a 20-minute cameo when the game was already gone.
Ismail Yüksek – N/A
Kenan Yildiz – N/A
Merij Demiral – N/A
Portugal
Diogo Costa – 7
Turkey had X shots on target, but it really didn’t feel like they had that many with his outfielders dominating possession and the pace of the play.
João Cancelo – 6
Took on his more orthodox right-back role today after playing higher up the field in Selecão’s last contest, and it allowed him to be more attacking, in which he created two chances. But, he is arguably the team’s weak link and teams could look to target him going forward.
Pepe – 8
At 41-years-old, Pepe is in the squad for a reason, and that reason is his football IQ and stellar reading of the game. Made some crucial plays in the first half and was always in the right place at the right time. Man of the Match performance.
Rúben Dias – 7
A second consecutive game in which the backline was rarely tested but he remained strong throughout. Looked very confident in defence, and was good on the ball too.
Nuno Mendes – 7
Looked so much more comfortable as a member of the back four, his darting run and cross led to Bernardo Silva breaking the deadlock and he defended well in transition too.
João Palhinha – 6
Selecão looked much more balanced in formation with a true No. 6 in the line up. Had a 100% pass rate (21/21) and looked comfortable, but a yellow in the first half saw Martínez ultimately sub him off at half-time.
Bruno Fernandes – 8
Looked to be the focal point of any balls going forward and was progressive in his play throughout. Made some lovely runs, one of which was rewarded with a goal to put the lead out of sight.
Vitinha – 7
Very good at winning the ball back and had another strong display.
Bernardo Silva – 8
Arguably the best player on the pitch in the first half. Every touch he took turned into gold and his goal to open the scoring was his first at a major tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 7
There was a vintage CR7 stepover in the first half which brought back nostalgia for the older audience, but in a 2 v 1 in the second half, he opted to pass to his teammate Bruno Fernandes to virtually put the game out of sight. Very unselfish and sees him add yet another record to his name as having the most assists in EUROs history (seven).
Rafael Leão – 3
Received a yellow card for a dive in the first half on the edge of the area for the second game in a row. His punishment from his manager was a half time substitution. He is done for the group stages of Euro 2024 with a suspension for the next game.
Substitutes
Rúben Neves – 6
Classic performance that we often saw in the Premier League when playing for Wolves. Solid display but nothing to shout about.
Pedro Neto – 6
After his role in Portugal’s winner in their opening game, he was rewarded with 45 minutes of action this time after being subbed on a half-time, but arguably didn’t take his chances with his final ball letting him down on multiple occasions.
Nélson Semedo – N/A
António Silva – N/A
Read how the Portuguese camp reacted to this victory, and follow comprehensive coverage of EURO2024 right here on FromTheSpot.