CRISTIANO RONALDO BREAKS NEW RECORD AFTER HOWLER FROM MAN UTD'S FORGOTTEN MAN

Altay Bayindir’s previous competitive game of football was at Newport County - but this was more Rodney Trotter than Rodney Parade.

The rarely seen Manchester United goalkeeper’s slapstick moment helped confirm Portugal as Group F winners and left the huge travelling army of Turkey fans heartbroken in Dortmund.

Bayindir had raced from his goal but failed to communicate with defender Samet Akaydin, whose backpass to an area his goalkeeper had just vacated trickled over the line despite the best efforts of Bayindir and Mehmet Celik.

There was a certain irony that the entire situation came about as a result of Cristiano Ronaldo not making the run that Joao Cancelo had hoped he would, with Roberto Martinez forced to defend his continued selection of the 39-year-old forward before the match.

Bernardo Silva had spoken about the need to get more players into scoring positions to help Ronaldo after the late win over the Czech Republic, and seven minutes prior to Portugal’s hilarious second goal he’d decided to practice what he preached.

Left-back Nuno Mendes burst into the penalty area, and when Orkun Kokcu’s touch took the ball away from the waiting Ronaldo, Manchester City ’s Silva was there to snaffle the opener.

Turkey boss Vincenzo Montella had surprisingly made four changes from the side that beat Georgia 3-1 in their opener, with Bayindir’s inclusion among them.

If it was an attempt to freshen up his side then it looked to be working in the opening stages, with Kerem Akturkoglu close to converting Zeki Celik’s cross only to be knocked off balance by Cancelo.

Galatasaray’s Akturkoglu would prove to be Turkey’s leading light in the first half, and shortly after Bayindir’s moment to forget he drew a superb save from the feet of Diogo Costa.

But it was at the back where Turkey’s problems lay, and the game was put beyond their grasp 11 minutes into the second half.

Ronaldo no longer has the pace he once possessed, but he didn’t need it to catch Silva’s fine pass after he was played onside by Celik.

With a goal at a sixth European Championships in sight he opted to pass to Bruno Fernandes who did the rest, with Ronaldo’s seven Euros assists now the most in tournament history.

The remainder of the game was largely about trying to get the captain the goal he’d passed up the opportunity to score, but Ronaldo mistimed his jump following a fine cross from the brilliant Silva.

Silva almost capped his excellent display with a second goal late on after linking with Ronaldo, but the game had long stopped resembling a contest, and was repeatedly delayed by lone fans invading the pitch for selfies with Ronaldo.

He accommodated for one young supporter, showing him just as much charity as Turkey’s defence showed Portugal.

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2024-06-22T18:16:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd