European Championship program: Defending champion Portugal in action

On the fifth day of the European Championship, there are only two games on the program. On Tuesday, this concerns duels in group F, or the ‘pool of death’ at this tournament. First, defending champion Portugal takes on Hungary, followed by the squatter between France and Germany.

European Championship program

6 p.m., Puskás Aréna in Budapest: Hungary-Portugal
Portugal made history at the 2016 European Championship by winning a major final tournament for the first time. In the final, host country France was defeated 1-0 after extra time. That the Portuguese had a taste for it became apparent three years later when they won the first edition of the Nations League. This time, the Dutch national team went for the ax in the final battle.

The successes were achieved under the leadership of coach Fernando Santos, who will also be in front of the group again this European Championship. Of course he can again have Cristiano Ronaldo, who, despite the necessary criticism last season with 29 goals, became a nice top scorer in Serie A. If the 36-year-old attacker is accurate against Hungary on Tuesday, he is also only all-time top scorer in a single match. EK. He still shares that record (9 goals) with Michel Platini.

Hungary returned to a final tournament in 2016 after an absence of thirty years and so did not have to wait as long this time. At first glance, the team of Italian coach Marco Rossi seems unlikely to survive the tough group F, but it does have the advantage that it can receive both Portugal and France in Budapest.

Fact about the match: Portugal and Hungary also met in the group stage at the 2016 European Championship. The goal-rich game ended in 3-3. Ronaldo scored twice, but also missed a penalty. Although Portugal only finished third in the group, two weeks later the European title was taken.

Player to watch: Ronaldo remains the biggest eye-catcher, of course, but Portugal has much more quality in house. A lot can be expected in particular from the creative midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who has had an excellent season at Manchester United.

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