“It was an insane match”, said Ronaldo, who had thrown a reporter’s microphone into a lake the previous day following the criticism levelled at him for failing to score in the draws with Iceland and Austria.
Advertisement
There were personal milestones, too: the audacious flicked shot in the 50th minute ensured Ronaldo became the first player to score in four different European Championship tournaments, coming in a record 17th finals game.
Portugal were in desperate trouble when Balasz Dzsudzsak put Hungary 2-1 in front yet still enjoyed the luxury of wasting three free kicks 30 metres from goal, all taken by Ronaldo.
But Portugal equalized three minutes before half time when Nani fired a powerful left-footed strike into the bottom corner after a through ball from Ronaldo.
Ronaldo endured a frustrating opening two games at Euro 2016 as Portugal were held to draws by Iceland and Austria.
“It was hard after we fell behind but we showed that we are shoulder to shoulder with the world’s top teams”, Kalinic said.
Although the media shouted questions towards the star after his brief statement, Ronaldo simply said that it was a decision down to Portugal’s media officer: “It’s not up to me”, he said.
His brace against Hungary on Wednesday were his first two goals at this year’s tournament, and took his overall tally to eight – just one behind all-time record scorer Michel Platini.
It was Ireland’s first win over Italy in a competitive match since the 1994 World Cup in the United States. We had two great performances in our other games as well but we promised we’d score against Hungary and we have got three so I am very pleased.
With 364 goals in 348 games for Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo is not a player normally associated with unflattering statistics – but his numbers in France tell their own story.
In the end, Portugal finished behind them and only progressed as one of the best third-placed sides – something that brought a wry smile to Bjarnason’s face.
“We had wanted to finish in first place, to move on, but not like this”.
Advertisement
“The players have huge expectations, because we want to reach the final and win it”. I think the odds are 50-50 and whoever wins will make it through. “It was unbelievable. When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this in my opinion shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition”.
