Portugal into last 16 as Silva and Fernandes sink Turkey

ensured they will now top Group F with a disarmingly low pulse rate 3-0 defeat of an outmatched Turkey. This was a statement victory for Portugal, not because of what they did, but because of what they didn’t have to. At times it felt a bit like watching a team of grown-ups strolling past the local primary school eleven. The biggest obstacle Roberto Martínez’s team experienced here was an excessive number of spectators running on to take stolen selfies with Cristiano Ronaldo.

There were, reportedly, an additional 200,000 people in Dortmund for this game, chiefly from the German-Turk demographic. Germany has generally been a little cool around this tournament. At times in the cities it has felt as thoughVincenzo Montella made four changes, the most notable Altay Bayındır in goal and the omission of the supercharged teenager Arda Guler due to “tiredness”. And Turkey were hungry early on, using the flanks as their attacking lanes. At which point Portugal just took over.

Ronaldo was busy early on. He had a shot at goal. He dropped back and pressed. Then he stopped doing that, because it’s fine and anyway he has a man. At times he even played the old hits. With 14 mintues gone Ronaldo found himself by the touchline facing Turkey’s right back Zeki Celik. A stopover, a feint and a switch of feet and Celik was on his backside, the cross already gone.

The ball was processed out to the left. Rafael Leão carried it, waited for Nuno Mendes to hare on outside him, then laid the ball into his stride. The cross was perfectly arced for the run of Bernardo Silva, who had time to smash it with precision into the near corner.With 27 minutes gone Portugal had a second, again a deeply Portugal kind of goal, and not just because it featured Ronaldo having a needless arm-waving hissy-fit as João Cancelo made a loose forward pass.

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