Late flurry gets Portugal off to perfect start at Euro 2020

I was screaming at Santos throw on Renato throughout the entire second half. He comes on for the last 10 minutes and we score 3 goals.

I have no problem with William. He was fine today, but there is no reason to play both he and danilo against such defensive opposition.

Portugal created enough in the first half to be 1-0 at half time but Jota and Ronaldo couldn't finish.

The second half was painfully lethargic.it took the energetic Renato Sanches and a fortunate deflected goal to take the lead in the 84th minute.

Ronaldo, Jota, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernardo were all quiet.

Semedo and Danilo were perhaps our best players before the introduction of Renato and Rafa.

Ronaldo took his goals well and is now well poised to overtake Ali daei at some point during the euros.

Next up is Germany, a side with plenty of talent but a soft defensive underbelly. It'll be interesting to see how we fare against a far more proactive, attack-minded opponent.

What was up with all the sloppy passes in the final 3rd? Portuguese players were literally passing it straight to Hungarian players with no Portuguese players actually there to receive the pass. We can't waste those many chances against France and Germany. We need to be more clinical. Hope that Dias yellow card doesn't result in a suspension later on against a big team. Happy for the win. But Portugal did it in typical Euro style. Painful and agonizing 80 minutes, with 10 minutes of pure ecstasy lol.

Best match of the Euros so far. Hugh voltage game, intense,no holds barred fight, the crowd and an absolute WAR!!! I thought it would turn into another battle of Nuremberg but it didn't as both of them were pretty disciplined and no horror tackles were to be seen in the 90 mins. Neutral fans might have enjoyed it, but for us it was an absolute rollercoaster of a ride until the last ten minutes. I got extremely agitated as the time was ticking and no goals scored yet. The match had draw written all over it atleast from second half onwards. Absolutely delighted when Guerreiro scored via deflection. I remember the last time Hungary scored two deflected goal against us. Danilo looked superb to me. I feel sorry for William, he's DM at best, has the quality of #8 and #10 but he doesn't convince me in the advanced role. Perhaps too old shool for modern football. Still a great player though. Jota always tried something different but decision making was off. It happens in football anyway. Nothing to worry about. I really want to see Joao Felix as tournament progresses. Força Portugal. Bonus Text: That 3rd Goal was superb.

What a whirlwind of a game

Straight away starting two defensive midfielders against Hungary was an inexcusably awful decision. I thought the match was lively throughout we created many chances to score. Jota appeared to be a bit jittery playing in his first major tournament.. gave the ball away quite a few times but nevertheless he was presently involved which is good. A couple attempts on goal in which the Hungarian keeper had to turn aside. I rather have someone looking a bit shaky rather than vanishing entirely. Evidently, C.Ronaldo was wide open on that first shot but Jota gets a pass from me on this occasion.

Issues I noticed as the game begun to slowly settle down:

1. Bernardo Silva out wide

I imagine we'll keep beating the drum pertaining to Bernardo Silva until the day he retires. Another wasted talent similar to Danny. He'll cut in and put in a good cross every so often but he is otherwise very limited and unproductive. The guy is incapable of cutting to the by line and putting in a cross on his right foot. He looks like a one trick pony out there and I'm sure the French and German scouts will be finding this out shortly. Play the dude in the middle or don't play him at all. Rafa is all of a sudden a mastermind when you compare the two which is not what we need to be hearing because Rafa is not starter material in any way shape or form. He got his contribution in on some basic 1-2 passing. Any of our players who are technically a winger or a full back are equally capable of providing the same support.

2. William as our most creative playmaker

Terrible idea. No wonder we hardly got things going once Hungary fully parked the bus. Really? What is Fernando Santos thinking? He must be delusional if he thinks William has the IQ or passing ability to unlock the opponents defence. We wasted 80 whole minutes repeating the same thing over and over and for as much defensive coverage that William + Danilo offer our center backs, they were both in no mans land every time Hungary countered. They are both slow and don't have the pace to rush back and close off any threats. That's how Hungary found the net and Portugal were headed for a quick tourny exit had the goal not been marginally offside.

3. Bruno Fernandes operating too far up the pitch

Where was this guy the whole first half? We needed him to drop back and help William find outlets. Invisible. Apart from one long distance shot on target in the 2nd.. unequivocally the flop of the match. Maybe Santos has something to do with it though. Worst strategy ever.

4. Santos' substitutions

Rafa as the first choice sub? Those cigarettes clearly show a negative affect your brain cells. Bless Fernando so that he'll be able to think straight. Nothing sparked in the ensuing 15 minutes. Only when Renato got introduced in the 80th minute did the switch flick instantaneously. Sanches is a tank and he cleared out the midfield all by himself. Thankfully there was enough time on the clock for us to win the game.

Conclusion: Renato should be an automatic starter. Some say keep him for the last 20 minutes so he'll be a menace against tired legs. but who do you start then? Because this midfield is not working. Portugal lacks a central playmaker badly. We have Moutinho but he's unable to keep up for long periods these days.. Bruno is playing AM and we don't expect that to change. I'd love to see Bernardo in the middle but the odds are less than 1 in 1000. Renato at least gets to play in his preferred position. Our staff better have some alternatives up their sleeves.. this double-pivot with full backs pushing up is so easy to read and exploit and we will be taken out prematurely if he they aren't working on another system. Maybe against France it would be necessary but now the cards have been shown.

All in all happy we managed to claim 3 points.. but there's lots of work to be done. Força Portugal!