The scandalous refereeing decision that denied the Czech Republic a point against Portugal

Portugal and star player Cristiano Ronaldo secured three points against the Czech Republic in their opening match at Euro 2024. However, it was not an easy performance.

The Czech Republic took the lead in the second half through a fine effort from Lukas Provod that left Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa baffled.

However, it was not long before Portugal equalised, after a poor save by the Czech goalkeeper, who pushed the ball against defender Robin Hranac: 1-1.

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Then Portugal manager Roberto Martinez decided to bring in a number of late substitutions to take three points. One of them was Wolverhampton's Nelson Semedo, who replaced Joao Cancelo.

Like he always does, Semedo played on the right flank, where he had to stop Czech opponents, although he took things too literally at one point.

In a duel with Czechia's Doudera, Semedo clearly body checked his opponent, who went to the ground and expected the referee to blow a foul.

Picture credit: X, @𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗

However, Marco Guida, the Italian referee in charge, allowed the game to continue, much to the surprise of the Czech.

The Czech team was furious and received a lot of support in their calls for a foul on social media.

Guida allowed the Portuguese to continue playing and storming forward in their quest for a winner and three points.

To make things even more dramatic, Portugal achieved their goal, with substitute Francisco Conceicao scoring the winner for his country immediately afterwards, leaving the Czech behind devastated and sparking controversy on social media.

Do you think Semedo's body check should have been blown by the ref? Let us know in the comments!

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