Portugal will be the last of the favorites to debut in this Euro 2024 today. In Leipzig and against the Czech Republic, the team led by Roberto Martínez has the pressure to win after the victories of other title contenders such as Germany, Spain, England, France and Italy.
At 39 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be the team’s leader. He scored ten goals in the qualification phase of this Euro and has 130 with the shirt of the country where he was born.
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He began writing that history of conquests and disappointments with Portugal at Euro 2004, a tournament in which he scored his first international goal. He was the runner-up (he would have his revenge with the title won in 2016) after losing the final to the surprising Greece.
The Al Nassr striker maintains his relevance, although many things have changed in these two decades. Nokia was the fashionable mobile phone, the Lost TV series was airing its first episodes, and the Shrek 2 movie was the highest-grossing that year.
In the world of football, the landscape was also very different, and it is enough to recall the lineup of Brazil at the time. June 12, 2004 was Cristiano Ronaldo’s first match in a Euro, while six days earlier the Seleção drew 1-1 with Chile in Santiago, in a match corresponding to the South American Qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup.
The national team that was then led by Carlos Alberto Parreira took the field with Dida in goal; Cafú, Juan, Roque Junior and Roberto Carlos in defense; Edmilson, Juninho Pernambucano, Edu and Kaká in the middle; Ronaldo Nazário and Luis Fabiano in attack.
All these players are now retired, as are the substitutes: Júlio César, Juliano Belletti, Cris, Julio Baptista, Alex, Gilberto Silva and Adriano.
