Portugal swept into the last 16 of Euro 2024 on Saturday after comfortably seeing off Turkey 3-0 and guaranteeing first place in Group F.
Bernardo Silva's fine finish in the 21st minute, a comical Samet Akaydin own goal shortly afterwards and Bruno Fernandes's second-half tap-in gave Portugal a straightforward win in front of swathes of passionate Turkish fans in Dortmund.
Portugal make light work of Türkiye as they make it back-to-back wins at #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/4BUdnYPVV9
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) June 22, 2024
Portugal looked every inch a team aiming to win their second European Championship after triumphing in 2016, their star-studded line-up easily dealing with Vincenzo Montella's enthusiastic but limited Turkey team.
Cristiano Ronaldo will have at least two more tries to become the oldest goalscorer at a European Championship as Martinez said on Friday that the 39-year-old is in the right shape to play every four days.
It was Ronaldo who unselfishly set up Fernandes for a simple goal in the 56th minute after springing through Turkey's offside trap, and he then had time to pose for a selfie with a child fan who invaded the pitch midway through the second half.
This young fan was not leaving the Signal Iduna Park without a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo 🤣#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/fu8GD7euap
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) June 22, 2024
Martinez's side, on a perfect six points, will face one of the four best third-place finishers in the next round and go into their final group game against Georgia without any pressure for a result.
The same cannot be said for Turkey who need a draw against the Czech Republic on Wednesday to ensure second place.
Turkey's passionate support again flocked to the Westfalenstadion in huge numbers, with long tailbacks on the roads leading to the ground several hours before kick-off.
Some fans sat on the top of cars leading chants among the thousands of supporters who crawled towards their destination.
PITCH INVADERS
Once inside what was effectively a home crowd let out a deafening chorus of whistles and jeers when Portugal jogged out for their pre-match warm-up.
However, once the match got under way there was a clear gap in class between the two sides and Portugal went deservedly ahead through Silva as the Manchester City midfielder confidently smashed in Nuno Mendes's deflected low cross.
Soon after, Akaydin gifted Portugal a two-goal lead with his sloppy backpass which turned into an own goal as Zeki Celik and goalkeeper Altay Bayindir tried in vain to prevent the ball crossing the line.
“𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.” 👀
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) June 22, 2024
A bizarre own goal from Turkey’s Samet Akaydin 😶
📺 Stream #EURO2024 live: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/6pHD18up00
Those two goals and the dominance of the Portuguese players quietened down the partisan crowd and the result was sealed when Fernandes stroked home his former Manchester United teammate Ronaldo's present of a pass.
The Portugal fans then turned up the volume to celebrate their country reaching the last 16.
And cheers then rang around the ground from both sets of supporters as a pint-sized fan ran onto the pitch midway through the second half, just as the game was stopped to allow Nelson Semedo to replace Joao Cancelo for Portugal.
The youngster was cool enough to grab an amused Ronaldo for a photo and then dashed off on a mazy run his hero would have been proud of, dropping his shoulder on security staff before eventually being carted away from the pitch.
Little kid getting a selfie with Ronaldo then turning on the after-burners 🤣🏃♂️➡️ pic.twitter.com/TPyLW02jjE
— Football Fights (@footbalIfights) June 22, 2024
Ronaldo was less amused when five much larger fans then made copycat bids for selfies, only to be showered with boos and refused a photo before annoyed stewards reached them.