Portugal beat Poland on penalties to advance into the semi-finals of Euro 2016 – despite not having won a game in 90 minutes at the tournament.
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Cristiano Ronaldo could not bear to watch the penalty shoot-out on Thursday that sent Portugal into the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and Poland, heartbroken, back home.
Quaresma fired his spot-kick past Lukasz Fabianski to line up a match against either Wales or Belgium in Lyon on Wednesday, securing Portugal’s fourth semifinal at the last five European Championships.
Wales vs. Belgium, 2 p.m.
In the round of 16 against Croatia, the midfielder came off the bench and proved the driving force in his side recording a dramatic 1-0 victory in extra-time.
Yet another skin-of-the-teeth evening was settled only when goalkeeper Rui Patricio saved Jakub Blaszczykowski’s penalty.
Robert Lewandowski had given Poland an early lead with the second-fastest goal in the history of the competition but 18-year-old Renato Sanches levelled with his first senior global strike.
“But I’ve always said, and I don’t hide it, that I would love to win a title with the national team”.
Lewandowski gave Poland an early lead inside two minutes by placing the ball neatly past a hapless Patricio.
A night of pain for the Polish fans had looked so much brighter just a minute and 40 seconds into the game, when a high ball caught out Portugal right-back Cédric to allow Kamil Grosicki in behind. He would score the equalizing goal before halftime, a powerful left footed shot from outside the box that took a deflection on the way in, but a class goal still.
Sanches went ahead of Ronaldo as the youngest ever scorer in the knockout stages in the Euros. A simple approach and strike into the bottom left of the goal, brought the penalty shootout level.
Both teams face sanctions from UEFA for pyrotechnic use by their fans, and play was briefly stopped in extra time by a fan who ran onto the pitch.
Ronaldo became the first player to score in four different European Championships with the first of his brace against Hungary in their 3-3 Group F draw.
Portugal and Poland were locked at 1-1 when a thrill-seeker interrupted proceedings.
Ronaldo’s teammates then searched him out in the second half, while their captain let them down with a series of misses.
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In some ways, it seems harsh to criticise a Portugal team whose recent record at the European Championship puts many bigger countries to shame.
