Portugal got off to a winning start in EURO 2008 after claiming a deserved 2-0 victory over Turkey in Group A action on Saturday. Real Madrid defender Pepe broke the deadlock one minute past the hour mark before substitute Raul Meireles ensured the win in stoppage time. Portugal went to the top of the group, level on three points with second-placed Czech Republic, who defeated Switzerland 1-0 earlier in the day. Midfield Dominance With their abundance of talent, Portugal players found no difficulty in controlling midfield in the first half. Turkey deployed an offside trap to cut short Portugal's attacking raids. Pepe almost put Portugal in front when he headed home Simao's curling cross, but his effort was ruled out for offside. In the 30th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo showed flashes of his brilliance when he dribbled past three defenders, only to drag his low shot wide of the post. The Manchester United in-form winger was unlucky not to open the scoring eight minutes before the interval. His low free-kick from the left edge of the area bounced off the ground and rattled the far post after Turkey keeper Volkan Demirel got a hand to it.
Joao Moutinho had a decent chance to break Turkey's resistance in the 41st minute. The Sporting Lisbon midfielder controlled Deco's low cross inside the area but his half volley was deflected over by a challenge from Gokhan Zan. Deserved Opener Portugal continued pressing forward in the second half, outplaying Turkey in every aspect of the game. A blunder by Zan almost gifted Portugal the opener five minutes after restart. The Besiktas defender hesitated in clearing the ball from his own box, allowing Simao to intercept and slip the ball into the path of Nuno Gomes. The Benfica striker's outside-of-the-foot shot was denied by the post. Pepe made amends in the 61st minute when he went clear on goal after a neat one-two with Gomes. His shot looped into the net after taking a slight deflection off a defender. Gomes should have doubled the lead four minutes later but his header from Ronaldo's left-wing cross struck the woodwork. Meireles, who replaced Simao with seven minutes remaining, rounded off the win in stoppage time. Moutinho spun his marker after being fed by Ronaldo before passing for Meireles to slot home into an empty net.
