GROUP F
Bulgaria 0 - 4 Portugal
R Silva 38'
Neves 75'
Ronaldo 79'
Jota 90+2'
Eamonn Foster
Puskas Ferenc Stadion, Budapest, Hungary
Tuesday 16th June
For the last decade or so Ronaldo has led the forward line for his national team and whether that has been through necessity from a lack of alternative strong striking options, a genuine tactical plan or simply his desire to literally be the leading man is up for debate. At times this afternoon in the Puskas Ferenc stadium he cut a somewhat frustrated, grumpy figure up there on his own and whether on an individual level centre-forward is still his most effective position for the national team is hard to tell. However, football is of course a team game and his absence from midfield has allowed lesser-heralded but wonderful footballers to really shine in the positions behind him. Whisper it, but Ronaldo has, no doubt inadvertently, used his own significant threat as a decoy to make him become one of Portugal’s less dazzling stars.
Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Rafa Silva gave some of the more eye-catching performances tonight. Silva and Fernandes, extremely highly regarded on the blue and red sides of Manchester respectively, may well be able to inspire Portugal to go far into this tournament based on today’s showing. Portugal’s old-hand manager Fernando Santos may have surprised those not too familiar with Benfica’s top division by picking Benfica’s 27 year-old Rafa Silva in midfield and leaving the likes of Joao Felix, Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves sitting on the bench. But for those who have seen Rafa Silva play with some regularity will know of the talent he possesses. Playing very much like a right-footed version of his teammate Bernardo Silva, he linked up intricately with his teammates in several slick, flowing attacks and, as his seventeen league goals from twenty-six appearances in the 2019/19 would imply, he looked extremely dangerous when going for goal, too.
Seven minutes before time it was this threat which broke the deadlock. Following another advance into the Bulgaria defensive third it was Rafa Silva, meeting a square ball from Bernardo Silva on the edge of the penalty area, who swept the ball low and hard to the right of Bulgarian goalkeeper Plamen Iliev’s goal. It was a 1-0 advantage in a half during which Portugal looked like the only possible winners in this contest.
Portugal’s dominance continued. From the full-back positions Barcelona’s Nélson Semedo and Borussia Dortmund’s Raphaël Guerreiro had the run of the right and left flanks respectively, constantly overlapping, cutting in and overlapping again. William Carvalho controlled well in the centre of the park, patrolling and allowing for Bruno Fernandes to roam forward into the space afforded behind Cristiano Ronaldo. It could be levelled at the Manchester United midfielder that he tried to shoot from distance too many times in the first half hour, ignoring better options around him- most notably an increasingly exasperated Ronaldo- but seconds before the half-time whistle there was one particular piledriver moments which rocketed against the crossbar so hard that even the Bulgaria manager Georgi Dermendzhiev looked giddy with excitement.
To say something of this Bulgaria side is difficult; today they were easily brushed aside by a side with superior talent and experience. Goals look like they will be very hard to come by as Bulgaria registered only one shot on goal- a meek header from a corner. Kiril Despodov looked rather menacing off the ball but, understandably, struggled to bring others into play when he was on the ball. Ismail Isa ran around earnestly but barely saw the ball. Oh, what this current Bulgaria side would give for a Dimitar Berbatov.
On the 70th minute there was a double introduction to make any watching Wolves fans happy. The lively Gonçalo Guedes made way for Rubén Neves in midfield and Diogo Jota came on for Bernardo Silva, who was beginning to tire in the latter stages after an all-action performance. Ronaldo, perhaps having sensed that more joy could be had from the wings, moved onto the wing and Jota took up the centre-forward position.
And just five minutes after coming on, Neves, a scorer of some truly stunning long-rangers during the last few years in English football, pulled one out of the top drawer to put his country 2-0 up. Whilst Bulgaria will have been desperate to try to start well, this was a goal that possessed such quality that made Dermendzhiev’s side essentially pack up for the day, saving reserves for their two remaining, gargantuan, challenges against France and Germany. Neves’ goal, a piledriver into the top corner from the best part of 30 yards out was reminiscent of Luis Figo’s wonderful opening-match goal to rally a comeback against England in Euro 2000 almost twenty years ago to the day.
If Portugal are to score four then of course Ronaldo cannot be absent from the scoresheet. A delightful cross from the left byline from Guerreiro on the 79th minute found Ronaldo, who met the cross behind the whole Bulgarian defence, hanging imperiously and powering a header against the underside of the crossbar from which the ball bounced down emphatically against the ground and ended up very much in the net. It was a header that few players in the game would be capable of; even fewer would be capable of doing it on the biggest stages as Ronaldo has done so many times over his career that even the fussiest of statisticians have probably stopped counting. Whilst the fate of the game was clearly already decided, Ronaldo clearly felt himself vindicated by his goal, as he pointed to his chest and leered down the nearest pitch-side camera like a madman.
The final stages of the game played out with more intent attacking football from Portugal, led mostly by Ronaldo, against a Bulgaria side that now just really wanted the final whistle. Portugal, keen to find a fourth and record their biggest win of the competition, found the net again just moments before the final whistle. This time it was Jota. The Wolves forward benefitted from a poor touch from Bulgaria right-back Strahil Popov to nip goalside, carry the ball fifteen yards towards goal before executing a delightful dink over the oncoming goalkeeper Iliev to send the ball trickling into the net and Portugal top of Group F.
On the basis of this match it seems that Bulgaria will be the whipping boys of an intimidating Group F whilst Portugal, on the back of last summer’s Nations League success, could be capable of doing very well indeed at Euro 2020.