Cristiano Ronaldo scored one and assisted another to lead Portugal to a 2-0 win over Wales in the semifinals of the European Championship here on Wednesday. Having not been expected to make it past the group stage, Chris Coleman’s team were just one match away from the final.
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“They got their first goal and were lucky on the second”.
In a great gesture, Ronaldo was seen consoling Bale – his Real Madrid team-mate, post the match.
With Portugal hitting form at the right time, they will eagerly be awaiting the outcome of this Thursday’s other semi-final between hosts France and World Cup winners Germany, with the victor facing Portugal in the final this Sunday in Paris.
“We can’t be deflated after this – getting to the semi-finals – because no-one thought we were going to get here”.
“It’s very disappointing to be so close to the final”, Bale said, “but we have to be proud”.
“We’ve given everything, on the pitch, off the pitch”, Bale said of Wales stunning campaign in their first major tournament since 1958 when it took a Pele goal to beat them in the World Cup quarterfinals. I know it’s cost them a lot of money and I hope we’ve repaid that with some happy memories. They were the shining star here, the revelation team.
“They shut up shop well but we have no regrets”.
Ronaldo was also playing when Portugal reached their only previous European championship final on home soil in 2004, but lost 1-0 to Greece.
“I think once they settle down a bit in the next day or two, they’ve got to be proud of themselves”.
“We’ve been dreaming about this from the start”.
“We’ve had a taste of it now and we look forward to the future”, he said.
It was the 31-year-old Ronaldo who shone brightest in the game and it was his athleticism and genius that killed off the tie in three devastating minutes for Wales.
“Record-breaking is something very nice”, said the Portugal captain.
“We said all along we didn’t just want to qualify for this tournament, we want to qualify every time”.
Portugal had been extra-time specialists in recent knockout games in major tournaments, and hadn’t previously won a match in regulation 90 minutes in France.
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For arguably the world’s best player Cristiano Ronaldo has had a quiet few weeks in France.
