Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez hailed his side’s fight at Euro 2024 as they came from behind to beat the Czech Republic.
It was a frustrating night for Cristiano Ronaldo and Co as they struggled to break down a resilient Czech side and things took a turn for the worst when they went 1-0 down.
Lukas Provod sent a curling effort past Diogo Costa on the 62-minute mark to stun one of the tournament favourites, but it only took seven minutes for them to equalise.
An unfortunate own goal from Robin Hranac tied things up; from there, it was all Portugal.
Diogo Jota had a goal ruled out late on as Ronaldo’s original effort was deemed to be offside but Francisco Conceicao stepped up in the 92nd minute to fire his side into the lead at the death.
It was a fantastic spectacle for the neutral and Martinez was full of praise for his players after the match.
⏹️ 95′ ACABOOOOOOOOOOU A PARTIDA!!!!
ALGUÉM VIVO DESSE LADO????? É VITÓRIA PARA PORTUUUUUGAAAAAAAAL!!!!! ESTÁ FEITO! 🥵🇵🇹#PORCZE | 2-1 | #PartilhaAPaixão #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/d4118jcAGE
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) June 18, 2024
He said: “We didn’t expect easy games. We played against a spirited Czechia, they were very hard and they were very clinical; had one shot on target and they scored.
“It was also a test of character. You look at the stats, 70% of possession, 13 corners; you see a lot of good work.
“But when we were losing 1-0, we had to control the nerves and I think that the character that we showed today was incredible, something that will help us a lot.
“We won the game. We need to value what we did well as well; we defended very, very well.
“When you limit Czechia to no corners and just one shot on target, I think we can build a lot on the good things that we did today.”
