MARSEILLE, France -- Three thoughts on a tense, tight quarterfinal as
Portugal beat Poland 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in extra time
...
1. Portugal prevail, Poland exit in agony
Portugal are in the semifinals and Ricardo Quaresma is again their
last-gasp hero, though this time, it came in a penalty shootout that
separated two desperately tired teams. Poland's furthest run at the
Euros is over. They could not repeat their flawless performance in
Saturday's last-16 shootout with Switzerland.
Once Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski, star men and
captains of their respective teams, had taken the first spot kicks, it
was down to their lesser teammates to take their turns. Jakub
Blaszczykowski, so often the hero for Poland and definitely crucial at
Euro 2016, had his kick saved by Rui Patricio and up stepped Quaresma to
fire Portugal through.
Extra time had come and gone without much excitement; its major
talking point was a worryingly familiar lapse of security that allowed a
pitch invader to enter and head for Ronaldo, though he calmly
sidestepped the uninvited guest before some late-arriving stewards
restored order.
That it went into extra time was hardly a surprise, however.
Poland had beaten Switzerland on penalties in the previous round, while
Portugal had not led after 90 minutes in any of their four previous
matches at Euro 2016.
Portugal were struggling early, after Lewandowski broke his
tournament duck within one minute and 40 seconds and his Poland side
pushed on for more. Then Renato Sanches, 18 and Bayern Munich's €35
million summer signing, showed that individual flair is no longer
confined to Ronaldo.
Amid the drudgery of Portugal's late 1-0 round-of-16 defeat of
Croatia, Sanches won man of the match despite arriving on the field in
Lens only at halftime. He seized his chance on Thursday night with even
greater vigour. An injury to Andre Gomes gave him a first-ever start for
Portugal and his 33rd-minute goal, a thwacking drive, might have taken a
deflection off Grzegorz Krychowiak but was precisely the injection a
previously lethargic Portugal needed.
Until that goal and as was the case in each of their four
previous matches, Portugal were utterly lacking in flow. Sanches gave
them drive, unsettling Krychowiak, Poland's usually outstanding central
midfielder, in the process. Poland's natural caution set in and their
prolific early form dried up. Lewandowski managed just three touches in
the penalty area after scoring in the second minute.
Instead, a previously open contest ebbed into a dour battle. Both
teams adopted a defensive approach and the pace slowed on a steamy
Mediterranean evening. Extra time was seemingly inevitable. Portugal
came close when Artur Jedrzejczyk almost misdirected a Pepe pass into
his own net, though Ronaldo squandered an even better chance, failing to
connect from close range after beating the offside trap and running
onto a clever chip from substitute Joao Moutinho.
It came in the 86th minute; a moment to reassert greatness was
gone in a colourless overall individual display. Poland, with
Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik utterly isolated, would go on to suffer
their own collective agony.
2. Ronaldo struggles again
With Lionel Messi having retired (for the moment at least) from
international football, Euro 2016 presented a chance for Ronaldo to put
one over on his rival by winning a tournament with his country. France
hasn't yet seen him at his best by any means, save for two goals in a
3-3 draw with Hungary and the brief, decisive flicker that set up
Quaresma's winner against Croatia.
Having thrown a reporter's microphones into a lake and made
ill-fated predictions about Iceland's achievements, Ronaldo has not
enjoyed a good tournament for a public image that's usually so carefully
managed. The fear for Poland was that the extra motivation might make
Ronaldo even more dangerous, and from the moment he arrived at the
stadium, it appeared as though Ronaldo wished to set himself apart.
During the Portuguese national anthem, he stood at right angles to his
teammates and there was a similar disconnect when the game actually
started.
He and Nani, both natural wingers by trade, make an uncomfortable
strike pairing. Though he and coach Fernando Santos have disagreed in
public about his desire to come in from the left, Ronaldo began as the
more central attacker, required to use his aerial power rather than pace
as Portugal were usually reduced to long, pumped balls.
The 28th minute saw his first sight of goal, set up by Nani's
scamper down the left. The shot was powerful but not enough to beat
Lukasz Fabianski. Then came a reckless charge from Michal Pazdan in the
area that should have brought a penalty. That received some typical
(though justified) histrionics from Ronaldo.
He continued to up his shot count for the championships, equaling
Italy's overall total of 36 in four matches by the first half of extra
time, but nothing was coming off for him. Those efforts were hopeful at
best. This was another night on which Ronaldo looked haunted by both
playing for Portugal and the fact that he can no longer do it on his
own.
3. Lewandowski breaks duck but takes brunt of criticism
In Sanches, Lewandowski got a close look at the starlet who might
soon be his Bayern teammate, his own transfer situation permitting.
Lewandowski was far more concerned about breaking his scoreless
tournament to date, something coach Adam Nawalka had promised would
happen in Marseille.
Portugal were unlikely to let up on the harsh physical treatment
meted out to the big striker, who entered the quarterfinal not as the
leading scorer, but as the tournament's most-fouled player. Within the
first minute, Nawalka's prediction had born fruit; Grosicki, one of
Poland's outstanding players of the tournament, slipped past a dithering
Cedric Soares and laid it on a plate for Lewandowski. From a position
just inside the area, the most space he has been granted all tournament,
he was not going to miss.
Nawalka's plan is usually to try and hold onto a lead rather than
seek another goal, which meant another lonely night holding up the
ball, taking the brunt of more tackles. Not here, though; Poland set out
for more. In the 17th minute, Lewandowski held off two defenders to
fire a shot on goal. It was saved easily by Patricio, but the Bayern
attacker was finding and making space like never before at Euro 2016.
Yet the retrenchment soon came after Sanches' equaliser.
Lewandowski began to take more tackles, with Pepe paying particularly
close physical attention. The heavy-duty sacrificial role of the rest of
Poland's matches would again have to be adopted by Poland's captain.
He led from the front and ran himself into the ground but it would not be enough.
