Friday 22 June 2012

Ronaldo leads Portugal in to Semis

The Czech Republic were hoping of a repeat of their 1996 win over Portugal but Cristiano Ronaldo had other ideas as he inspired Portugal to a convincing 1-0 quarterfinal victory at the 14th European Championship. 

Ronaldo's powerful header rewrote the duo's rivalry at the same stage of the tournament 16 years ago when a lesser unknown Czech side beat a star-studded Portuguese squad 1-0.


The Czechs started solid and dynamic in the first 20 minutes, highlighted by the left-wing attack from Vaclav Pilar and the linking contribution from the playmaker Vladimir Darida.


Ronaldo tested the keeper Petr Cech's nerves in the 33rd minute when a corner was not cleared far away by the defenders and the Protugal's skipper tried an brilliant overhead volley which just flied past the post.


Portugal nearly broke the deadlock just before halftime whistle when Ronaldo showed adapt footwork to control Raul Meireles' pass and struck low from the right area, only seeing the ball hit the post.


Ronaldo's effort was evaded by the post again five minutes into the second half when the forward's 23-metre free kick swerved over the wall and Cech but hit the outside of the right post, which was Portugal's sixth hit on the woodwork this tournament, creating a new Euro record!


With 11 minutes left, Ronaldo finally made the breakthrough. The Real Madrid winger made an in-time run onto Joao Moutinho's right-flank pass to head into the top corner away from a desperate Cech.


With the third victory in their fifth successive Euro quarterfinal, Portugal will take on either Spain or France in the semifinals in Donetsk on June 27.

1 comment:

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