Portugal confirmed their place in the Euro 2024 knockout rounds with a resounding 3-0 thrashing of Turkey in Dortmund on Sunday.
A 21st-minute goal from Bernardo Silva kicked things off shortly before one of the most bizarre and remarkable own-goals you’re likely to see from Turkey’s Samet Akaydin, who failed to check where goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was before passing back.
Portugal didn’t relent after half-time and made it 3-0 in the 56th minute thanks to Bruno Fernandes, receiving a squared pass from Cristiano Ronaldo for a simple finish after some more poor defending from Turkey.
Despite an excellent Portuguese display, the match was marred by four separate pitch invaders running on to try and get selfies with Ronaldo.
Focusing on the football, here are the full player ratings from the match in Dortmund:
Turkey vs Portugal player ratings
Turkey
Altay Bayindir – 3/10 – Had no business coming out so far on the own-goal. Made just one save. A nightmare afternoon for the Man Utd man.
Zeki Celik – 4/10 – Dreadful positioning and lack of concentration to keep Ronaldo onside for the third Portugal goal. Was actually one of Turkey’s better players apart from that, but the one big negative far outweighed the collection of small positives.
Samet Akaydin – 2/10 – Always look before you pass. Always look before you pass. Akaydin is going to see that own-goal played back to him again and again in years to come. It was truly dreadful.
Abdulkerim Bardakci – 5/10 – Harshly booked for a slide tackle where he won the ball. Looked lost against a talented Portuguese forward line.
Ferdi Kadioglu – 7/10 – About as good as it got at the back for Turkey, making four tackles, four clearances, four recoveries and two interceptions, while also completing all three of his dribbles and creating one chance.
Hakan Calhanoglu – 5/10 – Only misplaced two passes but didn’t really do anything with them. One for six on his crossing success.
Kaan Ayhan – 5/10 – Completely outclassed in the midfield battle, hooked just before the hour.
Yunus Akgun – 6/10 – One of Turkey’s better players, creating a couple of chances and testing the Portuguese defence on occasion. That said, the standard wasn’t exactly high to match.
Orkun Kokcu – 4/10 – Unusually quiet and ineffective. Just 13 touches of the ball and four completed passes in the first half before being brought off.
Kerem Akturkoglu – 4/10 – Was certainly lively, but missed a huge chance after just six minutes with the score still at 0-0 and never really recovered his confidence.
Baris Alper Yilmaz – 4/10 – An isolated figure. Never tested the Portuguese defence and was outclassed by Dias and Pepe.
Substitutes:
Yusuf Yazici (46′, for Kokcu) – 6/10 – Certainly improved Turkey in the final third but the damage was already done.
Ismail Yusek (58′, for Ayhan) – 6/10 – Clean and tidy on the ball and worked hard without it.
Kenan Yildiz (58′, for Akturkoglu) – 5/10 – Never really got going.
Arda Guler (70′, for Akgun) – 6/10 – Added some grace and finesse to the Turkish ranks but there was no way he was going to inspire a comeback in just 20 minutes.
Merih Demiral (76′, for Akaydin) – 6/10 – Certainly had a better time than the man he replaced though, of course, Portugal had taken their foot off the gas by the time he came on.
Portugal
Diogo Costa – 7/10 – A couple of sloppy passes aside, a solid performance from the Porto goalkeeper. Made the saves he needed to.
Joao Cancelo – 6/10 – Let Akturkoglu get away from him for a chance early on but recovered well enough. A little sloppy with the ball at times.
Ruben Dias – 7/10 – Excellent on the ball and rarely tested without it.
Pepe – 8/10 – We’re still refusing to accept he’s 41 years old. Zipped across the pitch time and again to make slide tackles and interceptions, while he was almost flawless on the ball.
Nuno Mendes – 7/10 – Played a big part in the build-up for Silva’s opener and was solid defensively. A little sloppy at times but did what he needed to.
Vitinha – 7/10 – One of the most graceful and underrated midfielders at this tournament. Just uses the ball so well and is almost impossible to dispossess.
Joao Palhinha – 8/10 – Did exactly what he needed to in the first half, posting 100% success rates in passing, long passing, aerial duels and tackles. Also won two of four ground duels along with two clearances and an interception. Rested at the break.
Bruno Fernandes – 7/10 – Can thank Ronaldo for one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score. Fernandes actually cut a frustrated figure at times despite Portugal’s dominance, with things just not quite coming off for him. Still, played his part.
Bernardo Silva – 9/10 – Kicked things off with a well-taken goal and never looked back. Creative, dynamic and industrious in equal measure.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 8/10 – Like Pepe at 41, Ronaldo looks nowhere near his 39 years of age. Still has that little burst of pace to get behind a defence, dominates physically and actually looks unselfish in creating for his teammates.
Rafael Leao – 5/10 – Continues to be a frustrating figure for Portugal. Failed with all four of his dribbles and both his attempted crosses.
Substitutes:
Ruben Neves (46′, for Palhinha) – 7/10 – Excellent ball behind the Turkish defence in the build-up to the third goal. Looked just as class on the ball as he did during his Wolves days.
Pedro Neto (46′, for Leao) – 6/10 – Busy but never really influenced the game.
Nelson Semedo (68′, for Cancelo) – 5/10 – Didn’t get into the game.
Antonio Silva (83′, for Pepe) – 6/10 – Only had a few touches but looked composed.
Joao Neves (88′, for Vitinha) – 5/10 – Not enough time to make an impact.