Well, he’s back!! Like a Portuguese re-make of Superman III, in the most thrilling game of Euro 2016. Real Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo showed why he's boss with two goals and an assist to help Portugal muster a 3-3 draw with Hungary and have qualified as 'best loser' for the next round of Euro 2016 after Iceland's 2-1 win over Austria.
Portugal and star player Cristiano Ronaldo came into the match knowing that a win will grant them automatic qualification into the next round but were stunned when Hungary scored the first goal of the match through Zoltan Gera in the 19th minute.
Portugal, despite having more scoring attempts, were not clinical enough and always fell for Hungary's tactical counter-attacking moves with Portugal also having efforts rules as offside.
Towards the end of the first half, a counter attacking move led to Cristiano Ronaldo giving a well timed assist to Nani who slotted the ball in the rear corner with his left foot. It was 1-1 , game on. Half Time.
Iceland meanwhile were 1-0 up against Austria as at halftime, and needed to win the match and hope Portugal draw in order to qualify.
The second half started with Portugal coach Fernando Santos playing Cristiano Ronaldo more centrally but Hungary shocked the bookmakers with another goal two minutes after resumption of the second half with a deflected free kick effort from Dzsudzsak. Scoreline was 2-1 in favour of Hungary.
Moutinho who was wasteful and ineffective with possession was replaced by 18 year old Renato Sanchez and the game changed to Portugal's favour as C.Ronaldo equalized 3 minutes after Hungary's goal with a well placed header. 2-2!
The heat was on! Hungarian and Portuguese fans were wild with celebrations and chants as the game frantically played out.
Five minutes later, Hungarian captain Dzsudzsak scored again, 3-2!
Portugal striker Ronaldo was mortified and filled with anger, he couldn't believe his eyes. Hungary were leading 3-2 , but with 35 minutes to go he believed he could still get a result from the match.
At the 62nd minute after the introduction of Quaresma (a game changing substitution), Cristiano Ronaldo stylishly flicked the ball into the net to level the scores at 3-3.
With Iceland winning Austria, Portugal have qualified to the next round as best losers, and Ronaldo will beat his chest and say he proved his critics and haters wrong with this performance.
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