Ronaldo leads Portugal against Türkiye at UEFA Euro 2024 on TSN
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After thrilling opening victories, Portugal will face Türkiye with a place in the knockout stage at UEFA Euro 2024 on the line.
Catch Portugal vs. Türkiye LIVE on Saturday with coverage getting underway at 11a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT. on TSN1/4, CTV streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Mert Muldur and Arda Guler both unleashed rockets for Türkiye as they defeated Georgia 3-1 in an exciting contest in Dortmund.
Guler’s marker made him the first teenager to score on his Euro debut since upcoming opponent Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004 and the youngest ever to do so.
"Arda Guler scores nice goals,” said Türkiye defender Ferdi Kadıoğlu. “His goals doesn't surprise me as we also played together at club level. His first goal with the national team against Wales was also amazing."
Kerem Akturkoglu scored into an empty net with the last kick of the game to confirm Türkiye’s victory, which has them at the top of the group on goal difference heading into Saturday’s contest.
"This is the first time we've won the first match and we've not got beyond the group stage in the last three Euros, we didn't even pick up a point last time,” said Türkiye coach Vincenzo Montella. “Our first target was to win the [opening] match. Now we've won it, the dream is to win the next one and reach the knockout stage."
With the first goal accomplished, Türkiye can set their sights on the second as a win will be enough to send them through. Standing in their way will be Ronaldo and the 2016 UEFA Euro champions, who know they will also secure a spot in the Round of 16 with a victory.
Though the 39-year-old striker did not score in Portugal’s opening 2-1 win over Czechia, he did make history as the first player to appear at six European Championships.
Instead, it was Portugal substitute Francisco Conceicao who played the hero in stoppage time, scoring the winner in the 92nd minute, two minutes after he came into the game from the bench.
"We won [against Czechia] because we showed resilience, will power and belief,” said Portugal head coach Roberto Martínez. “It's the first time we've come from behind to win [under my tenure]. We believed; we showed incredible personality. If we had scored early, we could have won by three or four."
Portugal fell behind in the 62nd minute on a Lukas Provod strike and pulled even eight minutes later with the help of a Czechia own goal.
Ronaldo was not the only history maker on the field for Portugal as defender Pepe became the oldest player ever to appear at a European Championship at 41 years and 113 days.
The five-tournament veteran is looking forward to the challenge in Portugal’s second contest.
"[It will be as] difficult as the first game was,” said Pepe. “We played very well; the team showed a lot of resilience as well as team spirit, which is very important in a tournament like this. We hope the game against Türkiye will be different because they like to attack more and hurt the opponents with transitions. We are doing a good job in terms of our preparation ahead of the encounter to be able to play our game and make our fans happy."