Cristiano Ronaldo was on target against Hungary as his brace
ensured Portugal took a point from an exhilarating clash, and now they will
face Croatia in the rounds of 16.
Portugal played out 3-3 draw with Hungary in the final Group
F game at Euro 2016 on Wednesday, as Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player
to score in four European Championship finals.
Being named in Fernando Santos' starting XI ensured the
31-year-old completed a record 17th appearance in the competition, and his
first strike on the day made him the only player to score in four separate
Euros.
On a night when he was always likely to be the headline
attraction, Ronaldo's frustration - which had been building throughout the
tournament - was evident as early as the eighth minute.
a brilliant strike from Gera that put Hungary ahead ensured
it was no better
Headers from Ronaldo and Nani were not enough to clear away
a corner, with Gera controlling the ball on his chest before driving a venomous
half-volley low to Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio's left
Gabor Kiraly scurried across his line to stop a 30-yard
free-kick from Ronaldo bouncing into the bottom-right corner, but the Hungary
goalkeeper was beaten three minutes before half-time as Nani latched on to a
brilliantly threaded pass from Cristiano Ronaldo behind the defence to drive
home a nice finish at the near post.
Both teams ended the first half in a tie, with both Zoltan
Gera and Nani had exchanging goals to send the teams into the interval level at
1-1.
That gave Portugal a boost, but they found themselves behind
again two minutes after the restart when Dzsudzsak's free-kick deflected off
Andre Gomes and beat Rui Patricio.
Ronaldo finally took centre stage in the 50th minute, he
used his trailing leg to flick a cross from Joao Mario behind Adam Lang and
into the far corner to level the scores 2-2 in the 55th minute after Dzsudzsak
strike had previously put Hungary in control in the 47th minute
The Portugal captain latched on to Joao Mario's ball to
produce his landmark, record-breaking finish before thumping a header home just
past the hour mark to seal 3-3 draw.
Hungary's spirits still was not broken and, after seeing his
free-kick blocked by the wall, Dzsudzsak collected the rebound and picked out
the far corner of the net to restore his side's shock lead - with the help of a
deflection off Nani.
As things stood at that stage, Portugal were heading out,
but in the 62nd minute that changed again.
Ronaldo, once again came to the rescue as he got away from
Roland Juhasz to head home substitute Ricardo Quaresma's left-wing cross into
the back of the net.
Portugal had looked to be heading towards a last-16 clash
with England, but Iceland's late winner against Hungary ensured that they
finished second in the group and will take on England. Portugal subsequently
progress as one of the best third-placed teams.
Portugal finish third in the group, setting up a meeting with
Croatia in Lens on Saturday.
The topsy-turvy second period almost continued when Gergo
Lovrencsics picked out Elek in the
box, but the midfielder's first-time strike
crashed back off the post.
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