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Group F: Turkey 3 - Georgia 1
An underrated matchup of two nations chock full of tricky wingers, creative midfielders and center halves who look like henchman in a Bond movie. This was a fairly even match considering it was Georgia's first ever appearance in a major tournament.
Both teams got on the board near the half-hour mark, with Mert Muldur's stunning strike opening the scoring. The Turk was outdone by his teammate just past the hour mark, though, as Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler uncorked a precious curler to put Turkey ahead. Kerem Arkturkoglu finished things off with a hockey-like empty net goal, a fitting finish on a night when the Stanley Cup champion might be decided.
Turkey's Italian manager Vincenzo Montella spent two seasons at Adana Demirspor before making the transition to the national team job in the same country. He has Turkey set up in a progressive 4-2-3-1 formation that takes great advantage of Hakan Calhanoglu's comfortability in a double pivot and allows Benfica midfielder Orkun Kokcu to play a more advanced playmaking role.
Georgia remains a fascinating watch with star Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Metz striker Georges Mikautadze forming a formidable partnership up top. There is certainly a chance for Georgia to pick up its first win at a major tournament against the Czech Republic, and if they can manage that result, the final match of the group stage against Portugal might offer them a surprise chance at the knockout stage.
Group F: Portugal 2 - Czech Republic 1
One of the more heartbreaking results of the tournament so far. The Czechs took the lead just past the hour mark, only to have it slip away on an own goal less than 10 minutes later, and then they lost the point altogether when Fransisco Conceicao scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't score but it was his missed shot did produce the rebound that Conceicao turned into the winner. That is the stage Ronaldo is at in his career, where his litany of errant shots and passes might occassionally lead to a positive outcome. He'll have more chances to squander going forward, it seems, as Roberto Martinez played him the entire 90 minutes, an honor he didn't deserve and a stark contrast from the way Fernando Santos handled the egomaniac at the 2022 World Cup.
PSG midfielder Vitinha and West Ham full back Vladimir Coufal were the best players on the pitch for their respective nations, though the veteran Portuguese Pepe did have a strong performance as well at the ripe age of 41. Portugal did enough to rescue the result and make a giant step toward the knockout rounds, but they will have to get through a pair of tough games against Turkey and Georgia if they play on topping the group.
