Cristiano Ronaldo thanked his Portugal team-mates for helping him to surpass Michel Platini as the European Championship's outright all-time record goalscorer with his double against Hungary.
The 36-year-old scored a penalty late on in Tuesday's Group F clash to move one in front of Platini – who netted all nine of his goals in the 1984 edition – at the top of the competition's scoring charts.
He added to his tally in added time as Portugal, who opened the scoring through Raphael Guerreiro's 84th-minute strike in Budapest, became the first team in the history of the Euros to score three goals in the final 10 minutes of a game.
Ronaldo is also the first man to play and score in five separate European Championships and now has an even greater record in sight, the Juventus forward just three shy of Ali Daei's world record of 109 international goals.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner will have an opportunity to close in on Daei's impressive tally when Portugal take on Germany in Munich in their next group outing on Saturday.
Speaking after Portugal's late win against Hungary in front of around 61,000 spectators – the most at any game at this year's tournament – Ronaldo said: "It was important to win. It was a difficult game.
"Hungary defended very well for 90 minutes. We managed to score three goals and I am very grateful to the team for helping me to score twice and collect the man of the match award.
"It was essential to go in with the right foot to give confidence. Now we have to just keep going, keep going. We will look to win the next game."
It looked like being a day of frustration for reigning European champions Portugal before a late flurry of goals gave them their joint-record margin of victory at the Euros, alongside 3-0 wins against Croatia in 1996 and Germany in 2000.
Head coach Fernando Santos was pleased with the way his side adapted to overcome their stubborn opponents as Portugal won their first game at a major tournament for the first time in six attempts.
"They kept putting two or three players on top of Cristiano," he told SIC Noticias. "Our strategy was not to cross, cross, cross. We had to look for different paths and we scored a goal, then Hungary started opening up some space.
"If we had scored earlier it might have been easier for us. We had chances to score but didn't, which caused a small period of anxiety, though we recovered well in the end by scoring the goals.
"It was a case of making Ronaldo more open because Guerreiro was getting stuck. Now we have two important games to come and we will try our best to get through this stage."
Hungary came within six minutes of taking a point off Portugal, but they are now winless in their past four games at the European Championship and have matches against France and Germany to come in an extremely tough group.
"I'm disappointed with the result," Hungary coach Marco Rossi said at his post-match news conference. "There wasn't much difference between the two teams. We didn't have luck today.
"But we have to show that we're men. We are representing Hungary and we have two more equally difficult games ahead of us.
"We were happy with the game until the 83rd minute, but then the three goals came. Maybe it was my fault for taking too much risk. I'm not sad about the performance, but disappointed with the result."
Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid: Los Blancos edge closer to LaLiga title with win
Arda Guler scored in the first half to earn a second-string Real Madrid side a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Friday, moving the LaLiga leaders a step closer to a record-extending 36th Spanish title.
With five games remaining, Madrid climbed to 84 points and extended their lead to 14 points over second-placed Barcelona, who have a game in hand and host Valencia on Monday.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti rested several key players ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, but his side did just enough to secure the three points.
The winner came from 19-year-old Turkish midfielder Guler, making his first start for Madrid after signing from Fenerbahce, when he turned home Dani Carvajal's cross in the 29th minute.
Minnesota United v Sporting Kansas City: ‘It’s what I’ve waited for’ - Oluwaseyi
Minnesota United forward Tani Oluwaseyi is relishing his chance in the first team ahead of their clash with Sporting Kansas City.
The Loons have enjoyed a strong start to the MLS season and sit fifth in the Western Conference.
Sporting KC, meanwhile, sit three points below them in 10th having won just two of their opening nine matches.
Oluwaseyi scored the opening goal in Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Charlotte last weekend, which ended a run of three games without a victory.
Asked how it feels to break into the starting line-up after spending his first year at the club on loan, Oluwaseyi, who has scored a joint-high three goals, said:
“It's something that I've been waiting for, for I guess the last three years.
“I hoped that I could do it in year one, and that was kind of the goal going in, but everyone has a different journey, which is very evident in the game.
“So it took a couple of years, but I think being here now, being given the opportunity, the biggest thing for me is just grabbing an opportunity and making the most with it.”
Orlando City v Toronto FC: Pareja delighted with Lions’ character
Oscar Pareja is thrilled with the character his Orlando City players showed in their 2-2 draw with CF Montreal last time out.
Orlando conceded late against Montreal – in the 88th minute, in fact – but Ivan Angulo scored deep into stoppage time to salvage a point.
It was a result that extended Orlando’s unbeaten streak to four MLS games, as the Lions look to propel themselves up the Eastern Conference standings.
Next up is a home game against Toronto FC, and Pareja was proud of the resilience his team displayed.
He said: “I've seen the character of the team, and the willingness that we have with this group of players is incredible. It has happened already [this season], and then the last good result has shown that this group has a lot of intentions all the time to be upfront and try to propose the game.
“When we are at a disadvantage, we want to equalise with a lot of character, that's what we have. Once we start being more precise in the last third, I think we're going to have less problems, but we are resolving them and, really, I congratulate the players. I think they're doing a great job, they don't give up in any minute and today if we played five minutes more I think we win the game.”
Pareja knows his team must tighten up at the back, though.
He added: “We are trying to have more cohesiveness with the players that are starting or playing in the games. Our lines have to be better. Conceding early goals, or conceding goals especially in the first half for us, is something that we need to resolve, we need to figure it out. How can we be more solid? Not saying that it's just a defender’s problem, it’s a collective problem. We all have to be in charge. We need to be much better.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
McGuire scored three goals in his first two matches against Toronto. Five players in MLS history have scored in their first three matches against Toronto, most recently Josef Martinez in 2017-18.
Toronto FC – Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty
Marshall-Rutty set up Prince Owusu for Toronto’s lone goal on Saturday. Either Marshall-Rutty (two assists), Owusu (four goals) or both have been involved in each of Toronto’s last five MLS goals.
MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO CITY WIN
Toronto FC’s 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday was its fourth victory of the season, equalling their total from all of last season. Only one of the Reds’ last 25 regular-season matches dating back to late June has ended in a draw.
However, Orlando have lost only one of their last 16 regular-season home matches (W9 D6) dating back to late April 2023, a run that includes a 4-0 win over Toronto in July.
Indeed, Orlando are unbeaten in eight straight matches against Toronto (W6 D2) including winning the last four in a row. This is the Lions’ longest unbeaten run against a single opponent in regular-season play while they’ve won five in a row against an opponent once before, doing so against the Crew from 2018-21.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 59.6%
Toronto FC – 16.1%
Draw – 24.3%
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