Frustration reigned in a wild end to Group F on Wednesday, with Cristiano Ronaldo raging at the referee and booting a water bottle once substituted — and Turkey’s thrilling victory over Czechia culminating in a heated skirmish involving multiple players.
Ronaldo could barely control his frustration as Portugal closed out its Euro 2024 group schedule with a stunning upset defeat to world No. 74 Georgia, the biggest shock in tournament history per rankings .
The 39-year-old superstar earned himself a yellow card for yelling at referee Sandro Schaerer when a penalty claim was denied. Ronaldo was replaced by Goncalo Ramos after 66 minutes, with Portugal’s spot as Group F winner already assured going into the contest in Gelsenkirchen, but reacted with visible annoyance.
Goals for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze gave Georgia, the lowest ranked team going into the tournament, a famous victory that clinched it an unexpected place in the knockout round and shook up the round of 16 schedule.
Turkey also booked its place by beating Czechia in an exhilarating and physical contest in Hamburg that it end in the runner-up spot, level on six points with Portugal by finishing lower due to having lost the head-to-head.
For Georgia, Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring with a sweet left-foot strike after only two minutes against a Portugal side that contained a slew of changes, but still contained plenty of star power, with Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Joao Felix.
Growing in confidence, Georgia pressed forward and was perhaps fortunate to win a penalty after light contact after 57 minutes — confirmed by video replay — and Mikautadze made no mistake.
Things don’t get any easier for Georgia, which now meets Spain on Saturday. For the only debutant among the 24 teams in the tournament, this is an outcome already beyond its highest expectations, and had the goalkeeping heroics of Giorgi Mamardashvili to thank for the result.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez was hoping Ronaldo could finally open his goalscoring tally but Mamardashvili denied him in the first half from a dipping free kick.
In Hamburg, Turkey went ahead on 51 minutes through Hakan Calhanoglu after Czechia’s Antonin Barak was sent off midway through the first half. Tomas Soucek gave the Czechs a lifeline – only a win would suffice for them to progress – but it was not enough.
Czenk Tosun grabbed a late winner for Turkey as Czechia threw players forwards and left themselves open to a counter. Some lingering animosity spilled over at the final whistle with several players confronting each other, and Czechia’s tomas Chory earned a post-whitle red card for his actions.
Turkey now takes on Austria in Leipzig on July 2. Ronaldo and Portugal will meet Slovenia in Frankfurt a day earlier, for the right to meet the winner of France and Belgium in the quarterfinals.
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