Football
ESPN staff 8y

Cristiano Ronaldo hails Portugal qualification after 'crazy' Hungary draw

Record-breaking Cristiano Ronaldo said he was simply relieved to progress to the round of 16 after scoring twice in Portugal's "crazy" 3-3 draw with Hungary.

Hungary led three times in Wednesday's Group F clash but Portugal hit back each time, first when Ronaldo set up Nani before half-time and then when the Real Madrid man flicked home in the 50th minute and headed in a Ricardo Quaresma cross in the 62nd minute.

They were Ronaldo's first goals of the tournament, and saw him become the first player in history to score in four separate European Championships, but he said after the game that his sole focus had been on the team's progress.

"Records? Like I always say, it happens in a natural way, they are two more beautiful records and I am happy, but the priority was to advance," Ronaldo, who also set a new European Championship appearance record. said.

The draw saw Portugal qualify in third place and set up a round-of-16 meeting with Croatia, whose 2-1 win over reigning champions Spain on Tuesday saw them top Group D.

"Against Croatia, it will be a 50-50 game, whoever plays better will get to advance to the next phase," Ronaldo said of the matchup. "Not any team can beat Spain [as Croatia did], we know that we have our weapons, we have our quality and let's play eye-to-eye.

"We weren't able to win but the objective was obtained. Obviously we wanted a victory and didn't get it, but the team played well. It was a crazy game, it was also very hot, three times we were out of the Euro and we managed to advance."

Speaking to Sport TV after the match, Portugal manager Fernando Santos echoed Ronaldo's comments, insisting qualification was the most important objective.

"We must highlight qualification because that was the first objective," he said. "From a little after 80 minutes, they wouldn't play anymore. Still we were there trying to steal the ball, to keep the goalkeeper from wasting time, but I wanted a bird in the hand and not two in the bush. I'm not crazy! That's why Danilo came on."

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