Portugal vs Germany: Record setting Ronaldo to end Portugal’s hoodoo?
A very intriguing battle is in store as Portugal and Germany prepare to lock horns on matchday two of the Euro 2020 championship. Portugal and Germany are no strangers to each other, with the Selecao and die Mannschaft meeting up 18 times prior. So far, Germany do enjoy the vastly superior head-to-head record, with ten wins versus Portugal’s three. They’ve also won four of their last five meetings, including a 4-0 thrashing of the current Euro titleholders during the 2014 World Cup. Those five games produced a whopping 17 goals, so fans could be in for a real thriller in this one.
In fact, it’s been exactly 21 years since Portugal last beat Germany. That was on June 19, 2000, and coincidentally, it was also during the group stages of a Euro tournament. The hero on the day was none other than Sergio Conceição, who scored a hat-trick and it marked the last time die Mannschaft have conceded three goals to the same player in one match. This is something that Cristiano Ronaldo will certainly have in mind, to say the least. The Portuguese superstar is coming into this match having helped his side to brush aside a stubbornly defensive Hungary, and his brace now has put him ahead of Michel Platini for most goals at a Euro tournament.
With Ronaldo going from strength to strength, one would not bet against him adding more to his 11 Euro career goals over the course of this tournament, and Germany will certainly be very concerned about how to contain him heading into this contest. As Portugal come into this match having earned a deserved 3-0 win over Hungary, Germany are still reeling following their humiliating performance against France. An own goal from Mats Hummels ended up being the deciding factor, but were it not for several offside calls not going in France’s favor, Germany would have lost by at least two goals or more.
Joachim Low’s decision to recall Hummels and Thomas Muller hasn’t paid the dividends he’d hoped as both players unfortunately had no positive impact on the match. Muller, for his part, appeared lost in the shuffle alongside players like Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, and Kai Havertz, while Hummels struggled to deal with the searing pace of Kylian Mbappe. Germany also failed to keep cool and calm throughout, as evidenced by an off the ball incident involving Antonio Rudiger and Paul Pogba, where the former appeared to attempt to “bite” the Manchester United ace’s back. Whether it was a serious attempt or just a bizarre way to try to rattle Pogba, we’ll never really know, but it was shocking to say the least, especially as Germany are a team not known to be overly emotional or hot-tempered on average.
For Portugal, much of the focus will be on Cristiano Ronaldo, but the multi Ballon d’Or winner obviously can’t do it all alone without an excellent supporting cast. The Selecao have been in excellent form, with just two losses from their last 30 games (19 wins, nine draws) and notably, have conceded just 19 times during that run – showing they’ve really improved defensively as well, which doesn’t bode well for Germany at all. Especially considering how they really struggled against France – could this be another frustrating evening for Low’s already embattled side?
With France taking on Hungary in a match that will see France move to six points, this Portugal-Germany match is even more intriguing. Germany aren’t out of it just yet – if they can get a result here, they will put themselves in good stead to qualify as possibly the third-best placed side as they should be able to take care of Hungary on matchday three. Meanwhile, for Portugal, a win would guarantee them a spot in the round of 16.
This will be the fifth meeting between Portugal and Germany at a Euro tournament, and there will be plenty of fascinating stories playing out in the background. For starters, Thomas Muller’s only hat-trick for die Mannschaft was – yes you guessed it – against Portugal. That was during the 2014 World Cup; to date, the Bayern veteran hasn’t scored at a single Euro competition in his last 12 appearances. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, believe it or not, has never scored against Germany in his prior four games. Will that end today as he potentially breaks yet another record?
