Portugal Beats Poland to obtain a place in Semi-Final

Portugal saw off Poland on penalties in Marseille on Thursday to reach the semifinals of Euro 2016.

Poland’s Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring after just a couple of minutes, only for Renato Sanches to peg them back later in the first half.



Cristiano Ronaldo walks up to take the first penalty

Portugal had the better of the play from thereon, though failed to take their chances and relied on a shootout to ensure their place in the final four.

Portugal’s semi-final opponent will be either Wales or Belgium.

Remarkably, Portugal have reached the last four without winning a game in normal time following three draws in a group in which they finished third and an extra-time win over Croatia in the last 16.

No side has ever got this far in a European Championship without winning a match inside 90 minutes.

Portugal have also only led a match for 22 minutes during the whole tournament, while Poland have not trailed for a single minute.

However, for a second dour and conservative knockout game running, Fernando Santos’ side did what was required when it mattered.

Poland: Łukasz Fabiański; Artur Jędrzejczyk, Michał Pazdan, Kamil Glik, Łukasz Piszczek; Kamil Grosicki (Bartosz Kapustka 82′), Krzysztof Mączyński (Tomasz Jodłowiec 98′), Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jakub Błaszczykowski; Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik.

Goals: Lewandowski (2′).

Portugal: Rui Patricio; Eliseu, José Fonte, Pepe, Cédric; William Carvalho (Danilo Pereira 96′); Adrien Silva (João Moutinho 74′), Renato Sanches, João Mário (Ricardo Quaresma 80′); Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani.

Goals: Sanches (33′).