da dobrowin： The Seleccao skipper remains a serious attacking threat, but as we saw against Czech Republic, he can't always the be star of the show anymore

da prosport bet： Roberto Martinez always talks a great game – even after a poor one. The focus is always on the positives, never the negatives, so there was nothing surprising about his enthusiastic reaction to Portugal's highly fortuitous 2-1 win over Czech Republic in their Euro 2024 opener in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

There was even a not-so-subtle public plea to avoid over-analysing the performance. "Today, it's not about assessing the game from a technical or tactical point of view," he told reporters afterwards. "Today we won because we showed resilience, willpower and belief. "

He was certainly right in that regard. Tactics had little to do with Portugal's victory; it was all down to fighting spirit and good fortune.

Of course, two of Martinez's substitutes had proven decisive, with Pedro Neto providing the deflected cross from which Francisco Conceicao scored his injury-time winner. They also say that fortune favours the brave, and Portugal had five forwards on the field when the full-time whistle blew. Maybe one could, therefore, argue that they deserved their rub of the green.

"The important thing is not the starting 11," Martinez argued, "but how the game ends." It's a good line, but certainly doesn't hide the fact that both he and his team got away with one against the Czechs. Portugal were poor and there were several reasons why…

Getty ImagesPortugal's leading man

Cristiano Ronaldo missed two chances against the Czechs that everyone expected him to score, but he was hardly Portugal's principal problem – and even if he were, he wouldn't be dropped. Martinez could have easily ditched him after the forward's disastrous 2022 World Cup. Instead, he allowed him to continue as captain and constructed his entire team around Ronaldo.

Consequently, at 39 years of age, and at his sixth European Championship, Ronaldo remains Portugal's leading man and is surrounded by a stellar supporting cast of playmakers that seemingly have one solo objective: get the ball to their five-time Ballon d'Or winner in the penalty area.

It's not the worst tactic, of course.

AdvertisementGetty Images'One of the best players in history'

In Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao, Portugal are blessed with three of the most creative attacking talents in world football, and Ronaldo is arguably the finest finisher the game has ever seen.

So, while he failed to find the back of the net against the Czechs, Martinez will undoubtedly be buoyed by the fact that his No.7 was a constant threat, both from crosses from out wide, and slide-rule passes in behind the back-line.

As Czech manager Ivan Hasek said afterwards, "It is really unbelievable how dangerous a player Cristiano Ronaldo is in every game at his age. He showed his genius again, he knows how to get involved in chances. My hat goes off to him; he is one of the best players in football history."

The problem, though, is that there were times when some of Ronaldo's tremendously talented team-mates seemed more interested in trying to pick him out rather than going for goal themselves. In truth, they could have taken a leaf out of their captain's playbook by being more selfish, because it certainly wasn't a surprise to see that Ronaldo ended the game with five shots – as many as Fernandes, Bernardo and Leao combined.

The performances of all three were concerning, albeit for differing reasons.

Getty Fernandes needs freedom

Fernandes was heavily involved and played the pass of the match in the first half, when he took out the entire Czech defence with a through-ball that Ronaldo surprisingly failed to convert. However, the fact that the Manchester United ace was Portugal's deepest midfielder was utterly baffling, as it was a complete waste of his offensive attributes.

It would, thus, be a big surprise if Joao Palhinha is not recalled for what should be a far more testing clash with Turkey on Saturday – and asked to sit in front of the back four, which would obviously afford Fernandes greater freedom to go and do what he does best.

Getty ImagesWhat to do with Leao & Bernardo?

Promoting Palhinha to the starting line-up doesn't necessarily mean dropping Vitinha, either. The in-form Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was probably Portugal's most effective performer on the night, with his progressive passing constantly putting his team on the front foot. He deserves to retain his starting spot – in what should be a three-man midfield alongside Fernandes and Palhinha.

Of course, that begs the question: what to do with Leao and Bernardo? Neither man performed well in Frankfurt. Leao started brightly but was hauled off as soon as the Czechs scored, while Bernardo saw out the game despite once again looking a shadow of the player that has proven so integral to Manchester City's domination of English football.

In a damning indictment of their collective contribution, Neto and Conceicao did more in injury-time than Leao and Bernardo managed between them all evening.