Germany’s Euro 2020 campaign got going in earnest with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Portugal in Munich.
Germany dominated the first half but were hit with a sucker punch after 15 minutes when Portugal broke quickly to create a tap-in for Cristiano Ronaldo.
They recovered towards the end of the half though, applying enough pressure for Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro to divert the ball past Rui Patricio to give Germany the lead.
In the early stages of the second half the Germans took over. Robin Gosens set up Kai Havertz for the third, before converting a Joshua Kimmich cross soon after for the fourth. Diogo Jota pulled one back for Portugal, before substitute Renato Sanches hit the post with a long range drive towards the end.
All four teams in Group F could still qualify for the knockout stages on Wednesday night. Portugal will stay in Munich to face France, while Germany travel to Budapest to take on Hungary.
Earlier, Hungary pulled off one of the shocks of Euro 2020 as they held world champions France to a 1-1 draw at the Puskas Arena.
Marco Rossi’s side – ranked 35 places below France in the Fifa world rankings – had remarkably taken the lead on the stroke of half time through Attila Fiola, but this was cancelled out by Antoine Griezmann’s second half strike.
France saw two glorious opportunities to take the lead go begging in the first half, with Kylian Mbappe at the heart of the action. The PSG forward headed Lucas Digne’s cross the wrong side of the post, before teeing up Karim Benzema with an audacious flick, only for the Real Madrid man to slice wide.
Despite the world champions’ domination, it was Hungary who took a shock lead in second half stoppage time. Fiola rode the lunging challenge of Raphael Varane, burst into the box and slotted calmly past Hugo Lloris.
The spirited hosts continued to frustrate France, but their resolve was finally broken after 66 minutes. Hugo Lloris’s long ball caused chaos in the Hungary backline, Mbappe made a nuisance of himself and his low cross was powered home by Griezmann.
A breathless final 24 minutes ensued but neither side could find a winner, leaving Group F finely poised heading into the final round of fixtures on Wednesday.
Source: Eurosport
