A bizarre own goal from Turkey’s Samet Akaydin has helped Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2024. The Turkish defender unwittingly passed the ball into his own net to double Portugal’s lead after Bernando Silva had opened the scoring for the 2016 Euros champions. Bruno Fernandes sealed the three points from close range in the 55th minute as the Portuguese won their Group F game 3-0 on Saturday.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today The victory means Portugal has two wins from its first two Group F games, booking its place in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Turkey sits second in the group after a win and a defeat from its opening matches. Saturday’s game was played in a frenzied atmosphere in Dortmund’s BVB Stadion, with the stadium largely full of Turkey fans.
Both sides seemed to feed off the energy with fast starts, with Portugal making the most of that early momentum through Manchester City’s Silva, who opened the scoring when he slammed home a left-footed strike in the 21st minute. And just minutes later, Portugal doubled its lead in bizarre fashion. A wayward pass from Portugal rolled to the feet of Akaydin and, under no pressure from an opposing player, the defender looked away as he aimed a pass back to where he thought his goalkeeper Altay Bayındır was stood.
Unfortunately for Akaydin, Bayındır had come out to claim the pass meaning the ball trickled agonisingly past the keeper before rolling over the line, des.
