FRANCISCO CONCEICAO scored in stoppage time to prevent Portugal from losing against the Czech Republic.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his colleagues appeared to be given the cold shoulder in their opening game, but substitute Conceicao struck from close range to stir a frenzy in rain-soaked Leipzig.It might be a group of one, a group of two, a group of three, or a group of four.

Francisco Conceicao led Portugal to a surprise victory.

The 21-year-old scored just minutes after coming off the bench.

Portugal dominated possession and had the most shots by far.

Just seconds previously, the top of Ronaldo’s arm was judged offside as he headed against the post, with Diogo Jota converting the rebound.

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

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

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

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

A few weeks later, the same opponents trounced them in the final, adding to their sorrow.

And Czechia was about to attempt a similar smash-and-grab attack when Lukas Provod scored their first meaningful shot.

An unfortunate Robin Hranac own goal quickly levelled the score, but Ivan Hasek’s team came agonisingly close to upsetting them.

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

Robin Hranac’s own goal negated the Czech Republic’s opening goal.

The oldest swingers in town have both left for Portugal.

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

Ronaldo, at 39, became the first man to compete in six Euros. He was also bringing his total number of appearances to 26. But the question was if he could add to his career totals of 14 goals and 12 victories. 

The great man was so eager to get going that he was already several yards into the Czech half when his team kicked off.

Portugal also got off to a good start, playing in a fluid 3-4-3 formation with Nuno Mendes at left centre back and Joao Cancelo frequently rotating from wingback to midfield.

Despite domination in possession and territory, they struggled to create clear-cut opportunities.

Between Ronaldo’s early mistimed header and his shot in first-half stoppage time, which Czech keeper Jindrich Stanek stopped, they had no further opportunities on goal.

Unless you count Ronaldo’s attempt on a Bruno Fernandes through pass, which Stanek also saved, the Portuguese captain appeared to be slightly offside.

Rafael Leao was unquestionably Martinez’s man, and he came agonisingly close to meeting a Fernandes cross on the rare occasion when the tough Czechs were completely split open.

Diogo Jota believed he had placed Portugal ahead, but the goal was disallowed.

Cristiano Ronaldo was called offside throughout the buildup. Leao became enraged and drew 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 after the break. Fantastic headers by Tomas Holes and Tomas Soucek kept Ronaldo from putting Portugal ahead. Stanek made a simple save on a less-than-vintage free kick from guess who. The Czech defence was borderline heroic.

Then, miraculously, they scored. Coufal cleaned up after a breakdown in an attack, setting up Provod for a stunning shot off Costa’s right post.

Martinez eventually deployed his star-studded bench, substituting Diogo Jota, and the equaliser arrived soon.

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

Stanek fled from Bernardo Silva and Vitinha. As the game approached its last 10 minutes, Soucek fired just wide on the opposite end.

Jota celebrated early after capturing what he thought was the winner.

Conceicao, the son of former Portugal star Sergio, did his family pleased with a late goal.

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