Czech Republic have arrived at Euro 2024 – much to the chagrin of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lukas Provod was not involved at Euro 2020 due to a serious knee injury, taking time to study a degree before coming back to football. After netting a screamer against the run of play, he took the opportunity to knee-slide on the soaking-wet Leipzig pitch: even FourFourTwo's Matthew Ketchell – who passionately hates those kinds of celebrations – couldn't argue with that one.
CR7 was fuming, after missed chances at his end.
WHAT A HIT 😳Lukas Provod with a stunning strike to open the scoring against Portugal 🔥 #Euro2024 #PORCZE pic.twitter.com/3dqgVrFw3rJune 18, 2024
While plenty of Euro 2024 games have started with a bang, Portugal vs Czech Republic was more of a slow-burner – to put it kindly. The best chance of the first half saw Rafael Leao just inches away from toe-poking the ball in, while the Milan star was booked for a dive as perhaps the Portuguese’s most involved forward in the first 45 minutes.
Cristiano Ronaldo was given just a couple of opportunities, as Roberto Martinez’s side struggled to break down a valiant Czech rearguard. On 57 minutes, he was given the chance of a free-kick 30 yards out and fizzed the ball into the goalkeeper's gloves, failing to take advantage from a typical CR7 driving range.
While Ronaldo didn’t have a particularly fun start to Euro 2024, he did at least make history at kick-off, being the first man to appear in six European Championships.
More Euro 2024 stories
This is how to watch Euro 2024 live streams from anywhere in the world, while we have a guide on how to get Euro 2024 tickets if you're still looking to go to the tournament. We have the run-down on Euro 2024 stadiums, with info on host cities, capacities, and everything you need to know.
We have a list of the Euro 2024 favourites, with best odds on nations to win European Championship in Germany, while these are the best Euros games ever and these are the best pundits ever. With England set to be one of the favourites, meanwhile, we've analysed what the pathway to the final could look like for the Three Lions.
With plenty of favourites for the tournament in 2024, here's a look at the previous records of some of the bigger nations at the tournament.
