The game of Euro 2016 threatened to produce its most hubristic storyline. Drawn in what seemed the simplest of groups, Portugal, and Cristiano Ronaldo diced with an early departure. Eventually Portugal progressed in breathless fashion, thanks to Ronaldo.
He pegged Hungary back three times, with one assist and two goals. Forever the leading man, antihero and hero, profligate and prolific, Ronaldo had been Portugal’s problem and became their solution. He has dominated their three games, for better and worse, exerting a magnetism to the camera and the ball alike, but he was decisive when it was required.
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Schadenfreude had abounded during Ronaldo's quest for fulfilment. Portugal's pained virtuoso had cut an increasingly irritated figure, frustrated by fortune, opponents and colleagues alike, denied the validation he requires from constant scoring. A penalty was missed, free kicks squandered, shots saved and chances spurned.
He took a swipe at thin air in anger when Hungary went 3-2 ahead. Such gestures make him look like a spoilt child, but he has the strength of character, the relentless hunger to produce an all-too familiar response. He redoubled his efforts and a tournament that had brought only disappointment changed.
He scored three minutes after Hungary’s second goal. Then he struck seven minutes after the third. He can make tactless, egotistical complaints – as Iceland can testify, after he moaned about their defensiveness – but his on-field reaction to setbacks is altogether more laudable. A guided backheel flick to level the scores was evidence of his class. A bullet header from Ricardo Quaresma’s cross illustrated the range in his repertoire. He was Garrincha and he was Nat Lofthouse, all in the space of a few minutes.
And he is a record-breaker. Again. Ronaldo overhauled Lilian Thuram and Edwin van der Sar’s record of 16 games at kick-off. By the second half, he had become the first player to score at four European Championships. Next in his sights is Michel Platini’s total of nine goals, though they all came in the space of three weeks in 1984. The goal machine is only a hat-trick away from reaching 550 for club and country.
He added an assist, too, to illustrate his productivity with precise passing. For Portugal’s first equaliser, Ronaldo fed a pass into Nani’s path and his fellow winger drilled his effort beyond Gabor Kiraly, whose reflexes betrayed his 40 years. Before and after, the Portugal captain carried on his one-man assault from set-pieces. He took his total of shots from free kicks in major tournaments to 40. He is yet to score from one.
And it seemed to sum up his fortunes that Balasz Dzsudzsak did score with a free kick, and an imperfect one at that. Rui Patricio was wrongfooted by a deflection off Andre Gomes. The Hungarian felt doubly lucky when a second left-footed shot took another telling touch, this time off Nani’s heel, to defeat Patricio again. Ronaldo duly cancelled out his deflected brace, denying Dzsudzsak the status of matchwinner and deflecting attention from a deserving veteran.
At 37, Zoltan Gera is one of the few players at Euro 2016 old enough to remember Hungary’s major tournament, the 1986 World Cup. Not since 1972, before even Kiraly was born, have they performed as admirably on the international stage. He has always been a skilled technician and the way he cushioned a half-volley into the far corner of Rui Patricio’s goal suggests his talents are timeless.
And then he departed at the break as Bernd Storck further weakened his wonderfully spirited side.
Few foresaw a situation where Hungary were resting players against Portugal because they had already qualified. It highlighted the way expectations have been confounded in this most compelling of pools. Hungary’s weakened team performed magnificently, with togetherness and a quality that their undistinguished club careers scarcely suggested was possible. They are group winners and history men.
So are Portugal, the first team to draw all three group games in a European Championships.
And so, of course, is Ronaldo.
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