Record-breaking Cristiano Ronaldo said he was simply relieved to
progress to the round of 16 after scoring twice in Portugal’s “crazy”
3-3 draw with Hungary.
Hungary led three times in Wednesday’s
Group F clash but Portugal hit back each time, first when Ronaldo set up
Nani before half-time and then when the Real Madrid man flicked home in
the 50th minute and headed in a Ricardo Quaresma cross in the 62nd
minute.
They were Ronaldo’s first goals of the tournament, and saw
him become the first player in history to score in four separate
European Championships, but he said after the game that his sole focus
had been on the team’s progress.
“Records? Like I always say, it
happens in a natural way, they are two more beautiful records and I am
happy, but the priority was to advance,” Ronaldo, who also set a new
European Championship appearance record. said.
The draw saw
Portugal qualify in third place and set up a round-of-16 meeting with
Croatia, whose 2-1 win over reigning champions Spain on Tuesday saw them
top Group D.
“Against
Croatia, it will be a 50-50 game, whoever plays better will get to
advance to the next phase,” Ronaldo said of the matchup. “Not any team
can beat Spain [as Croatia did], we know that we have our weapons, we
have our quality and let’s play eye-to-eye.
“We weren’t able to
win but the objective was obtained. Obviously we wanted a victory and
didn’t get it, but the team played well. It was a crazy game, it was
also very hot, three times we were out of the Euro and we managed to
advance.”
Speaking to Sport TV after the match, Portugal manager
Fernando Santos echoed Ronaldo’s comments, insisting qualification was
the most important objective.
“We must highlight qualification
because that was the first objective,” he said. “From a little after 80
minutes, they wouldn’t play anymore. Still we were there trying to steal
the ball, to keep the goalkeeper from wasting time, but I wanted a bird
in the hand and not two in the bush. I’m not crazy! That’s why Danilo
came on.”
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