Portugal storm into quarter-final

With both two teams oozing talent, fans were expecting fireworks in a game pitting the goal-scoring prowess of Ronaldo against the play-making abilities of fellow Champions League winner and Real Madrid team mate Luka Modric of Croatia. 

Instead they got to see two hours of cagey, nervy football with only one shot on target amid some shocking finishing until mercurial Ricardo Quaresma lit up the stadium with his winner three minutes from the end of extra time. All eyes were on Ronaldo but for almost all the game he was nowhere to be seen, shut out by two and three Croats at all times. 

Winger Nani was equally subdued, trying to find some space but ending up crashing against a wall of defenders every time. Yet the best talent finds a way to make an impact, all that was needed was one spark, and they got it with teenager Renato Sanches, the poster boy of Portugal’s new generation, launching a quick break to feed Nani on the left. 

As always, Ronaldo dug deep into his reserves to charge up in support on the right and Nani picked him out with a clever, threaded low cross. Ronaldo’s shot from a tight angle was blocked by keeper Danijel Subasic’s quick reflexes but Quaresma, brought on in the 87 minute, was on hand to nod-in on the rebound and set up a quarter-final with Poland. It was not supposed to be Quaresma’s game and certainly not his tournament with coach Fernando Santos having hauled him off after he failed to follow tactical instructions in their 0-0 group-stage draw against Austria, berating him in public. 

The 32-year-old, who made the squad after reviving his career with a second spell at Turkey’s Besiktas, was long seen by critics as having failed to make the most of his talent in a topsy-turvy career punctuated by tantrums. However, enjoying another revival, the winger scored twice and set up two more as Portugal beat Estonia in a Euro warm-up two days before the start of the tournament. Quaresma was again left on the bench on Saturday before making the most of a brief substitute appearance that will live long in the memory of Portuguese fans.

Portugal substitute Ricardo Quaresma’s extra-time winner left coach Fernando Santos praising his team for executing his orders after a tactical game of cat-and-mouse with a Croatia side many tipped to win Euro 2016.

Portugal soaked up enormous pressure, with Quaresma heading Cristiano Ronaldo’s parried shot into an empty net in the 117th minute to secure a 1-0 win and put them into the quarter-finals against Poland. “It was a very tactical match. Portugal tried to take over but Croatia didn’t let us, but when they tried to take over we didn’t let them,” Santos told reporters. 

“You have to look at both sides of the coin. We faced an amazing team.” Portugal conceded possession to Croatia for long spells, but the fact that neither side managed a shot on target until Ronaldo’s late effort that led to the goal shows how well the respective teams’ defensive plans worked. “We were prepared,” Santos added. “I got the team ready to fight against Croatia’s strengths and to make the best of (exposing) their weaknesses. 

We didn’t let them counter, we paid special attention to that.” Santos praised Croatia’s desire to play their brand of football, even if it ultimately proved unsuccessful. The intriguing tactical battle led to few chances, but Santos made no apologies for how the game looked as a spectacle.