BREAKING: Quaresma blasts Portugal into Euro 2016 semifinals
Ricardo Quaresma was the hero of the night as Portugal defeated Poland 5-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Jakub Blaszczykowski lost his spot kick to give the Cristiano Ronaldo side an advantage.
Portugal’s goalkeeper Rui patricio dives to deny Jakub Blaszczykowski
Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake when he took the first spotkick to put Portugal ahead. Lewandowski had a superb penalty which left Portugal’s goalkeeper stranded.
Other players netted their spot kick, but the culprit of the night was Blaszczykowski whose penalty was saved by goalkeeper Patricio. Portugal are now the first team to reach the semi-final stage.
Below is our minute-by-minute coverage of the match
120′ FT: Referee blows the final whistle and we will head straight into penalty shootout.
116′ Both teams are now playing with care. This is a very crucial moment. Any goal now will seal it.
111′ Great Portugal counter masterminded by Ronaldo into the Poland area……Artur Jedrzejczyk heads it clear! Corner to Portugal.
107′ Grzegorz Krychowiak’s effort wins a corner for Poland
106′ Second period of extra-time begins.
105′ Referee signals the end of the first period of extra-time. Just fifteen minutes left. If no goal, we head straight into penalty-shootout.
102′ Brilliant ball into the Portuguese’ six-yard box, but no Polish player was lurking around for a tap-in
97′ Jodloweic comes on for Krzysztof Maczynski as Poland make a change.
94′ It is more balanced now as both sides are playing with utmost caution.
First Half of extra-time begins. What an end this would be? Where will the pendulum swing?
90+3′ It’s the end of regulation time and there is no separating these two sides. We head straight into extra-time.
90′ Three minutes added-on. If no goal, we head straight into extra-time
89′ Pepe heads wide.
85′ What a miss! Ronaldo fails to make contact with a superb pass. He needed to have just made contact with that ball and it would have gone into the net.
83′ Portugal continue to knock the ball around in a bid to keep possession as much as possible.
79′ Ricarco Quaresma is now on the pitch as he replaces Joao Mario
76′ Nani loses possession unnecessarily yet again.
73′ Joao Moutinho has just replaced Adrien Silva as Portugal make first change of the night.
70′ Adrien Silva has been booked for a dangerous tackle. The Portuguese has been very impressive tonight.
65′ Referee shows Kamil Glik a yellow for a foul on Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo
64′ Cedric Soares with a beautiful try from about 28 yards out; but the ball sails just wide off the post
60′ Ronaldo just missed the best chance of the night. He couldn’t connect to the ball in front of goal.
56′ Pepe looks slightly injured. What a game this has turned out to be
51′ Nani sends a delicious ball into the area to find Ronaldo…. goalkeeper Fabianski beats the Real Madrid man to the ball. Good save!
49′ Great effort by Lewandowski who tries to head towards goal, but somehow he got blocked
46′ Second half underway.
Half Time: It has been an electrifying first forty-five minutes. Lewandowski opened the scoring just two minutes into the game and then Renato Sanches struck thirty minutes later put Portugal back into the game.
45′ One minute added-on in this first half.
41′ Referee shows Artur Jedrzejczyk a yellow for a foul on Renato Sanches. The defender will miss the next match if Poland go through.
39′ Eliseu tries a shot from about 30-yards-out; deflected for a Portugal corner.
35′ Poland looking to restore their lead; Nani shoots wide
32′ GOOOOOAAAAAALLL! Renato Sanches fires into the net from outside the area: It’s 1-1
30′ Ronaldo goes down in the area for a penalty; but the referee is not interested.
28′ Cristiano Ronaldo fires a shot straight into the hands of the goalkeeper. He should have smashed it harder.
24′ Another chance for Poland to make it two….cleared! Eliseu was at the right position to clear the danger for Portugal.
20′ The tempo of the game has drastically reduced. However, Lewandowski continue to torment the Portuguese defense.
17′ Swift counter by Poland exposes Lewandowski to goal…..the Bayern Munich man shoots straight to the goalkeeper.
15′ Ronaldo blasts his free-kick straight into the wall.
11′ Desperate defending by Poland. The leaders have given away two corner kicks in quick succession.
8′ Nani and Ronaldo combine well, but their latest move goes straight into the safe hands of the goalkeeper.
5′ Portugal making all possible efforts to restore parity.
2′ GOOOOAAAAALLLL! Lewandowski scores. What a start to this epic quarter-final. Portugal chasing again. They have come from behind in three games at this competition.
Grosicki scampers forward and pulls the ball back to Lewandowski. On the penalty spot, the Bayern striker sidefoots home with power and precision.
1′ And we are underway. It’s a stage of ‘NO MISTAKES’. Which of these teams go through to the semis?
As Portugal go into battle for a place in the semi-final of Euro 2016 against Poland, much will be expected of three-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo to lift his team all the way to the finals.
CR7 has scored two goals in the competition, one short equaling the all-time tournament goal scorers record of nine by Michel Platini of France, and at the moment, the Real Madrid winger is set for another tussle for the player of the year award with Messi.
GET for FREE: Get the latest sports news on Naij Sports.
Poland can as well shock the entire Europe tonight, as the team pose a great threat to their opponents.
Line ups
Poland (4-4-2)
Lukasz Fabianski; Lukasz Piszczek, Kamil Glik, Michal Pazdan, Artur Jedrzejczyk; Jakub Blaszczykowski, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Krzysztof Maczynski, Kamil Grosicki; Arkadiusz Milik; Robert Lewandowski (capt) Coach: Adam Nawalka (POL)
Portugal (4-4-2)
Rui Patricio; Cedric Soares, Pepe, Jose Fonte, Eliseu; Renato Sanches, William Carvalho, Adrien Silva, Joao Mario; Cristiano Ronaldo (capt), Nani Coach: Fernando Santos (POR)
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
The post BREAKING: Quaresma blasts Portugal into Euro 2016 semifinals appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Nigerian newspapers 24/7.