It looked like the best game of the European Championship and it did not disappoint. Germany came from behind to put ghosts to rest and pull away from a precipice that, for a few minutes, they had been leaning over for a long time. It was too much Mannschaft for Cristiano, who was on target again and is now just two goals behind Ali Daei, the all-time top scorer at international level. He may not like caffeine, but this match had the tension through the roof.
The 7 opened the scoring with an impressive goal: he cleared a corner in his own area, galloped 80 metres and even pushed the ball into the opponent’s box. In the end, it was a mirage. Germany roared back with a vengeance and rolled to a 4-1 lead. It was the afternoon when Atalanta winger Gosens introduced himself to the world: he scored the first (disallowed), made two assists (although officially only one will be counted as the other was an own goal) and scored the fourth.
In the 35th minute, the Portuguese collapse began: Rúben Dias, trying to stop Havertz from pushing a ball, sent it into his own net; and just three minutes later Guerreiro emulated him with Gnabry. The house of cards crumbled at the stroke of a pen. Two own goals in the blink of an eye and the game was suddenly 1-2. After the break, Havertz extended the lead, but this time no one could steal his luck, and Gosens, the hero of the evening, headed past his opponent.
Portugal could have pulled one back, only for Jota to pull one back and Renato’s missile to hit the post. It would have been 3-4, madness. But it came up just inches short. Germany won, which compresses Group F and leaves everything in a fist for the last matchday.
Originally written in Spanish by Sergio López de Vicente for AS newspaper (See original here).
