June 24, (THEWILL)- Football fans across Europe and beyond witnessed one of the most extraordinary fixtures of the continental football competition currently ongoing after Portugal played a pulsating 2-2 draw with France in Budapest.
The draw was facilitated by the awarding of three penalty-kicks which were all scored as the same player ended up scoring both goals for each side making it an unofficial battle of supremacy between Europe’s highest goal-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and France’s returnee striker Karim Benzema.
The two former teammates at the Santiago Bernabeu of Real Madrid, where Benzema allegedly often existed in the shadow of the imperial Ronaldo and who has established himself as a striker in his own rights, made sure that the two top sides in the Group of Death made it through to the next stage of the competition.
Referee Antonio Mateu awarded the first of the spot-kicks when French keeper Hugo Lloris raced off his line to punch a cross clear, but caught Danilo first. VAR agreed with Mateu’s decision despite the protestation of the French. At just a minute past the half hour mark, Ronaldo converted from the spot to break the deadlock.
It was the turn of the Portuguese to protest a penalty decision that again stood after review. It was caused by Nelson Semedo halting the strategic run of Kylian Mbappe in the box in an off-the-ball incident. Benzema stepped up and converted from the spot to match Ronaldo’s and take both teams into the break all square.
In the opening minutes of the second period, Benzema bagged his second of the night. The Real forward sprang the offside trap brilliantly and tucked a shot past Rui Patricio, in the Portuguese goal. Calls of offside by the flag-wielding assistant referee went to the video assistants referees (VAR), who overruled that claim, with slow motions showing that Benzema was on-side.
There was still more drama, because referee Mateu pointed to the spot for a third time in the fixture. This occurred because a cross into the danger area slammed into the arm of an unfortunate Jules Kounde who had tried to prevent another goal-scoring opportunity for Ronaldo in the first place.
The goal Kounde tried to prevent came about when the megastar Portuguese striker lined up and struck the penalty-kick into the net from the spot. It was a goal that took the record-holding Ronaldo’s tournament tally up to five to, single handedly, keep Portugal in the competition going into the next rounds.
The final standings in the so-called Group of Death, saw France finish on top of the group. They will therefore meet Switzerland in the round-of-16. As Portugal finished third in the group, the defending champions qualified as one of the four best third-place sides, which will see them face Belgium in the next round.
For the other team in the group, Germany, they have a date, as the second-placed unit in the final group standings, against England at Wembley on Jun 29.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
