The road to the European Championships became clearer when the likes of England and Spain joined Germany and Switzerland in the last eight, after winning their respective encounters, so it was the turn of one of the pre-tournament favorites, Portugal, to earn their place with a clash against Slovenia.
Earlier in the day, William Saliba was in imperious form, putting Romelu Lukaku in his back pocket, as France earned a narrow victory courtesy of a Randall Kolo Muani goal or Jan Vertonghen own goal, depending on what part you are of that divide. However, what I’d say is that France has been a massive disappointment from the lofty ambitions set on them prior to the competition. The game itself wasn’t too exciting, as both sides played their cards close to their chest. Leandro Trossard wasn’t even summoned to tilt the attacking scales in Belgium’s favor, but I’m happy he can have a chance to recharge his batteries before returning for preseason action, with another fixture against Bournemouth in Los Angeles recently announced.
The night’s action saw Portugal take on Slovenia, with Roberto Martinez’s side reeling from their unfortunate loss against Georgia on Matchday 3. In fairness, Portugal was already confirmed in first place in their group, and the fixture was pretty much a dead rubber with the gaffer making eight changes, but such losses affect momentum. The game against Slovenia saw Jan Oblak and Diogo Costa take center stage, as they made save after save for their respective nations to keep the score line at bay.
Benjamin Sesko will look at this game and cover his head with a pillow following his high-profile misses that would have given a game a different outlook if they were converted. Early in the second half, he used his pace to get past the ageless Pepe and was one-on-one with Costa but he dragged his shot wide. Despite Portugal having the lion’s share of possession, that was a massive let off.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a stinker, making himself the center of attraction as you’d expect from the prima donna that he is. He took free kicks after free kicks, wasting them and his big moment arrived when Portugal were gifted a penalty after Diogo Jota was scythed down by Drkusic. Up stepped the Portugal captain, and Oblak was on hand to make a fantastic save, parrying the ball to the post.
With minutes to spare, the experienced 41-year-old Portugal veteran, Pepe, made a schoolboy error, allowing Sesko yet another one-on-one opportunity and he fired his shot straight at Costa. This is a player the entire Europe coveted for before the Euros, and he chose to remain at RB Leipzig, after signing a contract extension. He certainly has painted a different picture for his suitors though. It’s clear the ability is there, but he’s so raw.
Pepe was subbed for Ruben Neves, clearly with penalty kicks in mind, and after 120 minutes of intense action, it was down to Costa and Oblak to be the heroes. The last time Costa was in a penalty shootout, Porto played Arsenal in the Champions League, and if my memories serves me correctly, he failed to catch any spot kicks, while David Raya was the hero on the night.
With the shootouts underway, Up stepped the experienced Josip Ilicic, save for Costa as he guessed right. Ronaldo came up again, fired his effort to the bottom corner with Oblak getting really close again. Jure Balkovec, who only featured because Erik Janza was suspended, fired an effort that was saved again by Costa. Bruno Fernandes, a penalty taker extraordinaire, made Oblak look like a chum with a well dispatched spot kick. Benjamin Verbic stepped up for Slovenia and blasted a shot that was saved again by Costa, leaving Bernardo Silva with the chance to send Portugal to the quarterfinals, which he dispatched emphatically.
Portugal got their win after a scare against Slovenia and will have their hands full when they take on the might of France in the quarterfinals. That will be a banger.
Sayonara.
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