FRANCISCO CONCEICAO scored in stoppage time to save Portugal from a defeat against Czech Republic.

Just when it appeared that Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates would be given the cold shoulder in their first game, substitute Conceicao scored from close range to spark frenzy in rain-soaked Leipzig.

Francisco Conceicao netted a stunning victory for Portugal.

The 21-year-old scored only a few minutes after coming off the bench.

Portugal dominated possession and had the most shots by far.

Just seconds before, the top of Ronaldo’s arm had been ruled offside when he headed against the post, with Diogo Jota nodding in the rebound.

But, in the end, Portugal could not be denied.

So Ronaldo’s sixth Euros began with a scoreline that was reversed from his first.

His big tournament debut came 20 years ago, at Euro 2004.

Even though the then-teenager scored his first international goal, hosts Portugal fell 2-1 against Greece.

A few weeks later, they faced even more misery when the same opponents defeated them in the final.

And Czechia was about to launch a similar smash-and-grab assault when Lukas Provod scored their first significant shot.

An unfortunate Robin Hranac own goal soon levelled the game, although Ivan Hasek’s team came agonisingly close to defeating them.

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Lukas Provod put the Czech Republic ahead with a beautiful strike.

Robin Hranac scored an own goal to negate the Czech Republic’s opener.

The oldest swingers in town both left for Portugal.

Pepe, 41, surpassed former Hungary and Crystal Palace custodian Gabor Kiraly as the oldest player to appear in a European Championship final.

Ronaldo, at 39, became the first man to compete in six Euros. He was also increasing his record number of appearances to 26. But the question was whether he could add to his all-time totals of 14 goals and 12 wins. 

The great man was so eager to get started that he was already many yards into the Czech half before his team kicked off.

Portugal also got out of the blocks quickly, playing in a fluid 3-4-3 shape with Nuno Mendes at left centre back and Joao Cancelo frequently switching from wing back to midfield.

Despite their dominance in possession and territory, they struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Between Ronaldo’s early mistimed header and his shot in first-half stoppage time, which Czech keeper Jindrich Stanek saved, they had no additional attempts on target.

Unless you consider Ronaldo’s effort on a Bruno Fernandes through pass, which Stanek also stopped, the Portuguese captain appeared to be just offside.

Rafael Leao was most certainly Martinez’s man, and he came agonisingly close to meeting a Fernandes cross on the one occasion when the stubborn Czechs were truly sliced open.

Diogo Jota believed he had put Portugal ahead, but the goal was chalked off.

Cristiano Ronaldo was deemed offside during the build-up. Leao became angry and received a yellow card for diving from Italian referee Marco Guida.

Meanwhile, Portugal custodian Diogo Costa had little to do but watch Patrik Schick fail to connect properly with Vladimir Coufal’s cross in a rare Czech attack.

Nothing changed following the break. Fantastic headers by Tomas Holes and Tomas Soucek prevented Ronaldo from putting Portugal ahead. Stanek made a straightforward stop on a less-than-vintage free kick from guess who. The Czech defence bordered on heroic.

And then, miraculously, they scored. Coufal cleaned up after a breakdown in an attack and set up Provod for a beautiful shot off Costa’s right post.

Martinez finally used his star-studded bench, bringing on Diogo Jota, and the equaliser came quickly.

However, it sprang from an unexpected and, for the Czechs, tragic source. Stanek saved Nuno Mendes’ back-post header, but the ball bounced back into the net off Robin Hranac.

Stanek escaped from Bernardo Silva and Vitinha. As the game neared its last ten minutes, Soucek fired barely wide on the other end.

Jota celebrated early after capturing what he believed to be the winner.

But Conceicao, the son of former Portugal player Sergio, made the family proud with his late strike.

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