LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) 鈥� Portugal substitute Francisco Concei莽茫o scored in stoppage time for a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in their European Championship opening game on Tuesday.
Concei莽茫o, who only made his entrance in the 90th minute, fired the ball home in the 92nd after Robin Hranac's attempted block of fellow substitute Pedro Neto's shot fell kindly for the Porto winger to shoot inside the left post.
鈥淭he players that came off the bench showed that the team has a lot of options,鈥� Portugal coach Roberto Mart铆nez said.
Concei莽茫o wheeled away in delight and was booked for taking off his jersey.
It comes almost 24 years to the day since Concei莽茫o's father, S茅rgio Concei莽茫o, scored a hat trick to knock defending champion Germany .
Czech Republic goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek had thwarted Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portugal star became the . The 39-year-old Ronaldo was unable to add to his record 14 goals in his record-extending 26th appearance at the tournament.
Portugal's 41-year-old defender Pepe became the , though he had little to do as the 2016 champions dominated ball possession and chances.
鈥淲e won because the group is united. We became resilient in the last few days,鈥� said Mart铆nez, who praised his team for fighting back after conceding first.
It came as a shock when Lukas Provod broke the deadlock at the other end with a fierce strike inside the far post after Vladimir Coufal laid the ball back in the 62nd minute.
Portugal drew level in the 70th when Stanek鈥檚 save of Nuno Mendes鈥� header rebounded off the luckless Hranac鈥檚 shin and in.
Hranac was also involved when Concei莽茫o scored the winner.
鈥淚t was very unlucky, but it was a fast terrain, very wet. These unlucky things can happen,鈥� Czech coach Ivan Hasek said. 鈥淚 have to thank my players for their hard work. Portugal was better, they deserved to win.鈥�
Turkey defeated tournament debutant Georgia 3-1 in the earlier.
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AP Euro 2024:
Ciar谩n Fahey, The Associated Press
