Jonathan Wilson on what defeat means for Cristiano Ronaldo
Sid Lowe’s match report has arrived, so I’ll be off. Thanks for your company and emails - goodnight!
So, Belgium will play Italy in the quarter-final after a seriously hard-fought victory. The reigning champions Portugal were the better team for most of the game, especially in the second half, but Belgium were resilient in defence and Thibaut Courtois only had a few relatively straightforward saves to make. Raphael Guerreiro hit the post late on and Diogo Jota missed two presentable chances.
In the end the game was settled by Thorgan Hazard’s fierce drive just before half time. It may interrupt Rui Patricio’s sleep for the forseeable, because he probably should have done better. That aside Portugal will have few regrets; they left it all out there, especially during a pulsating last 20 minutes.
It wasn’t all good news for Belgium, with Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard both going off injured. De Bruyne’s looked serious, Hazard’s might have been a precaution.
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Full time: Belgium 1-0 Portugal
Peeeeeeeeeeeep peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
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90+5 min Leander Dendoncker replaces the goalscorer Thorgan Hazard.
90+4 min Belgium have a three on two break, but Carrasco’s pass through to Tielemans is blocked. At the other end Joao Felix plays a one-two with Ronaldo and drags wide from the edge of the area. It was only a half chance really, and Courtois had it covered.
90+4 min Portugal have 90 seconds to find a goal.
90+2 min Fernandes smashes well wide from distance. That was a poor decision, and the execution wasn’t up to much either.
90+1 min Five minutes of added time. Fernandes coaxes a clever pass into Andre Silva, who controls it on the chest but is dispossessed before he can have a shot.
90 min Portugal will be pretty aggrieved if it stays like this. They’ve had more of the ball, most of the chances and none of the goals.
89 min Lukaku goes on a brilliant run, beating three players before finding Carrasco. He is held up superbly by Ruben Dias and the attack eventually peters out.
88 min: Good save from Courtois! An excellent cross from Andre Silva is headed away superbly under pressure, I think by Meunier. Moments later, a hanging cross is headed on by Ronaldo towards Andre Silva, whose shot on the stretch is smothered bravely by Courtois.
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87 min Another change for Belgium: Yannick Carrasco replaces Eden Hazard, who appears to have pulled or strained a muscle. It might just be a precaution.
85 min Ronaldo’s shot deflects behind off Vermaelen. This is Portugal’s best spell of the match by a distance. Fernandes’s corner flashes across the six-yard line before being cleared.
84 min Lukaku is fouled 22 yards from goal, to the right of centre. Lukaku curls the free-kick over the bar.
83 min: Guerreiro hits the post! Felix’s cross is headed away to the edge of the area, where Guerreiro runs onto the ball and hits a crisp half-volley that beats Courtois and rebounds off the far post!
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82 min Bruno Fernandes’s corner from the right is met with a thumping header from Ruben Dias - but it’s straight down the throat of Courtois, who punches it away with both hands. That was a terrific chance for Dias.
81 min Alderweireld is booked for a foul on Felix. This game is about to boil over. A tip of the hat to Mark Childs, who wrote this early in the second half: “I’m starting to get some Battle of Nuremberg vibes: if Belgium go up 2-0, I do not see Ronaldo and Pepe going gently into the good night.”
79 min Ronaldo controls a long ball beautifully in the D, spinning away from Alderweireld in the same movement. He goes down and claims he was pulled back by Alderweireld; the referee disagrees. I’m pretty sure it was just outside the area, so it wouldn’t have been a penalty anyway.
78 min Portugal make their fourth and fifth substitutions: Danilo and Sergio Oliveira replaces Palhinha and Sanches.
76 min: It’s kicking off! The referee stops play with Lukaku down holding his head. Thorgan Hazard doesn’t hear the whistle and carries on playing - until Pepe chops him down with an absurd tackle. He is booked. A number of the Belgium players charged over towards Pepe but it sooned petered out.
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73 min Ronaldo closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, runs forward... and smashes the free-kick into the wall. I think it hit Sanches in fact.
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72 min Vermaelen is booked for a tackle from behind on Joao Felix. Portugal have a free-kick 30 yards from goal...
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71 min “Hey Rob!” says Ahmad Hutasuhut. “To me Renato Sanches is once again Portugal’s most impressive player (aside from CR7). I know he failed at Bayern but is Lille really his level? Maybe somewhere in between?”
He’s still only 23, and I’ll be extremely surprised if he doesn’t play for another huge club at some stage. He’s a class act.
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71 min Ronaldo is now playing from the left, with Andre Silva up front, Joao Felix on the right and Bruno Fernandes in midfield with Renato Sanches.
70 min Another Portugal substitution: Andre Silva is on for Diogo Jota, who missed one excellent chance and one decent one.
68 min Now Sanches shoots wide from long range. Most of Portugal’s attempts have been from outside the penalty area.
67 min Lots of Portugal pressure, though they are still struggling to open up the Belgium defence.
65 min If Portugal go out tonight it will be the first time since 1992 that they have failed to reach the last eight of the European Championship. (In 1992 there were only eight teams at the tournament; Portugal didn’t qualify.)
63 min After lovely play from the Hazards on the left, Lukaku smashes over the bar from the edge of the area.
62 min Fernandes smashes over from distance. It’s all Portugal now, with Ronaldo heavily involved in general play - perhaps too involved, as most of his work is being done outside the penalty area.
61 min Sanches’s deep, floated cross from the left is headed straight at Courtois by Joao Felix. It wasn’t much of a chance.
58 min: Chance for Jota! Ronaldo plays a one-two with Dalot and screws a terrific pass into Jota in the area. He controls it well under pressure but then lashes the bouncing ball over the bar.
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57 min It’s De Bruyne’s 30th birthday tomorrow, the poor bloke.
56 min A double change for Portugal: Bernardo Silva and Joao Moutinho are replaced by Joao Felix and Bruno Fernandes.
54 min Ronaldo collects a bouncing ball and hammers a long-range shot that is blocked by Vermaelen. Portugal are having a decent spell, albeit without creating any clear chances.
53 min “Would be far more worried about KDB’s ankle ligaments,” writes Rithvik Balakrishnan. “It looked like a pretty bad hyperextension on that Paulinha tackle.”
51 min Dalot is booked for pulling back Eden Hazard.
48 min Dries Mertens replaces Kevin De Bruyne.
47 min: De Bruyne injured Oh no. I think his tournament is over. I worried about this when his knee got stuck, because it was slightly reminiscent of the horrific injury suffered by the cricketer Simon Jones in the 2002-03 Ashes. This isn’t as bad, and De Bruyne is able to walk off the field, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he has damaged knee ligaments.
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46 min Peep peep! Portugal begin the second half.
“Football nicknames aren’t what they used to be,” says Mac Millings. “Therefore, I’ve put together an all-time Suggested Nicknames XI. It can’t be worse than that first half, can it? (Spoiler: Yes it can.)
- Gianluigi ‘Love to Love You, Baby, by’ Donnarumma
- Thomas ‘Grand’ Meunier
- Milan ‘It Rubs the Lotion on its’ Škriniar
- Willi ‘Dr.’ Orbán
- Matteo ‘Not a Pot to’ Pessina
- Eden ‘Bio’ Hazard
- Robert ‘Return of the’ Mak
- Matthijs ‘Angel’ De Ligt
- Vladimir ‘Miami’ Weiss
- Robert ‘The Big’ Lewandowski
- Memphis ‘Who Ate All’ Depay
A few of you think Joao Palhinha should have been sent off. He certainly should have been booked for trying to pull Romelu Lukaku back, and then was booked for a foul on Kevin De Bruyne. So yes, technically they were two yellow-card offences, but I doubt he would have made the tackle on De Bruyne had he already been booked.
“Seems that like quite a few of the OBO regulars, I’m also following the football - having spent 10 years in Brussels, I am very happy to see the ‘red devils’ doing well!” says Eva Maaten. “Germany-England should be interesting… not sure I necessarily want to follow this on any British media channel…”
It’ll be entirely miserable. But it will still be better than 1996, when the pre-match coverage in the Daily Mirror was such that the editor of the Sun claimed the moral high ground in some style on Channel 4 News. “The Sun has maintained a jingoistic approach,” he said, “rather than a xenophobic one.”
Half-time reading
Half time: Belgium 1-0 Portugal
Peep peep! Belgium lead through a spectacular goal from Thorgan Hazard. That was one of the only highlights of a somnolent, cagey first half. I say ‘somnolent’ and ‘cagey’; what I really mean is crap.
45+3 min Palhinha cracks a bouncing ball into orbit from the edge of the D.
45+2 min De Bruyne is up and about, though he’s only jogging at the moment.
45 min: De Bruyne injured! Another dangerous Belgium break ends with Dalot slicing the ball towards his own goal. Rui Patricio makes a comfortable save. Meanwhile, Joao Palhinha is booked for a foul on De Bruyne at the start of that move. He got the ball but went through De Bruyne, who knee got stuck in the turf. This is a big worry.
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43 min On reflection, Rui Patricio might have done better there. It was a superb strike but it didn’t go right in the corner. I think Patricio put his weight on the wrong foot, his right, and that meant he couldn’t spring far enough to his left to save the shot.
A brilliant goal, too. Thorgan Hazard has given Belgium the lead with a rasper. Meunier picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and gave it to his fellow wing-back Hazard. He had two quick touches and then smashed a beautiful shot that swerved from Rui Patricio and into the far corner.
GOAL! Belgium 1-0 Portugal (T Hazard 42)
Glory be, a goal!
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41 min Portugal work the corner short, and then Guerreiro hits a miserable shot from 25 yards that is booted away.
40 min Renato Sanches, the brightest attacking player on the pitch in the face of no competition, charges away from De Bruyne and Witsel before finding Bernardo Silva on the right. He wins a corner for Portugal, the first of the game at either end...
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39 min The other right wing-back, Dalot, volleys well wide from 15 yards. He’d been flagged offside anyway, though it looked tight.
39 min “This needs something outrageous to liven it up,” says Matt Dony. “Come on, Pepe. This is your time. Those Belgian hands won’t stand on themselves…”
38 min The right wing-back Meunier cuts infield, plays a one-two with De Bruyne on the edge of the area and flicks an extravagant shot with the outside of his right foot. It drifts a few yards wide.
37 min Brlgium break menacingly from a Portugal free-kick. Lukaku surges away from Palhinha, who has a good tug of his shirt and still can’t stop him. The referee plays the advantage and Lukaku’s pass to Thorgan Hazard is intercepted on the edge of the area.
36 min Ronaldo’s free-kick is the only shot on target so far.
35 min Portugal have dominated possession in the last 20-25 minutes, which is not something many people expected.
34 min I honestly don’t know what to say.
31 min “Am I imagining this or can many of the players no longer run?” says Andrew Hurley. “Ronaldo, Hazard (E), the entire Belgian defence...”
To be fair, Ronaldo needs to conserve his energy if he’s going to play at this level for another 65 years.
30 min Kevin De Bruyne has been quiet so far. Joao Palhinha, making his full debut, is doing a decent job in front of the back four.
29 min Any danger of someone doing something? This is really dull.
28 min “In contrast to Simon McMahon I rather like both kits,” says Phil Dennison. “More interesting than plain colours. There are some shocking choices for shirt number fonts in this competition, though not as bad as the last World Cup.”
27 min Palhinha shoots over from long range.
25 min: Good save from Courtois! Ronaldo hammers the free-kick through the wall and to the right of Courtois, who gets down smartly to push it away. Joao Palhinha, with almost no reaction time, heads the rebound off target.
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24 min Jota pokes the ball past Vermaelen, who handles it as he falls backwards. Free-kick to Portugal 25 yards out, a fair way to the right of centre. Yes, he is over it.
22 min Ronaldo goes down holding his face after running into Meunier, who made sure to stiffen his shoulder as Ronaldo approached. The referee wasn’t interested. Moments later, Sanches shoots well wide from distance.
22 min “At what point does this ‘cagey’ football by both teams become mind numbingly dull?” weeps Mary Waltz. “I fear that moment is fast approaching.”
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21 min Portugal are starting to have more of the ball, not that they, or Belgium, are doing much with it. It’s been a sluggish, cautious start, and both teams look like they are in it for the long haul.
19 min Thorgan Hazard cuts inside from the left and drills a shot from 20 yards that hits a defender.
18 min “Not sure if we have grass experts among our number but this pitch looks suspect to my untrained eye,” says Ian Copestake. “I have no idea how grass can grow in the hottest part of spain anyway but it looks ready to cut up. I also have no idea why I am concerned about this.”
Spain were very critical of the pitch after their early games.
16 min Portugal have their first sustained spell of possession in the Belgium half. Nothing comes of it, but I have to write something here.
13 min Belgium continue to move the ball from side to side in pursuit of an opening. The only slight criticism is that they could increase the tempo of their passing.
11 min I’m not sure Ronaldo has touched the ball yet.
10 min Eden Hazard plays a nice one-two with Lukaku on the edge of the area, and then slices his shot miles wide.
9 min That Jota chance aside, it’s been a pretty cagey start. Belgium continue to dominate possession, but Portugal won’t mind that.
6 min: Good chance for Jota! Out of nothing, Portugal almost grabbed the lead. Sanches turned Tielemans smoothly on the halfway line, surged at a retreating defence and slid the ball to his left to find Jota just inside the area. He took a touch but then, with Alderweireld sliding across him, dragged a shot well wide of the far post.
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5 min “Ronaldo is also tied with Marta on 109 international goals,” writes John Neville, “with about eight women ahead of them. He has some distance to go to move past Christine Sinclair on 186.”
But what a moment it will be when he scored goal No187 against Spain on his 63rd birthday.
4 min Nothing to report so far. Belgium have had most of the ball in the early minutes.
Nelly Korda is the best player in the world yet to win a major. She’s leading, having nearly holed out from 250 yards for an albatross on the par-five 5th. She’s outstanding, and so is second-placed Lizette Salas, who is a much shorter hitter but has supernatural scrambling skills and simply refuses to yield. It’s shaping up to be a great battle. Go on, open another window, spoil yourself with sport.
2 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I hope the football is better than the kits, which are both shockingly bad.”
1 min Peep peep! Belgium, in red, kick off from left to right. Portugal are in their teal change strip.
Some games are bigger than others. And for a last-16 tie, this is humongous.
“Evening Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “Far be it for me to infer that my optimism is fuelled almost entirely by what feels like an endless supply of ice cold bottles of Mahou (other chilled Spanish lagers are available) but I do feel that tonight’s match could be a right old thumper. I’m thinking France v Argentina at World Cup 2018. Alternatively, supplies could run out, its 1-0 Belgium and I’m in bed by 9.45.”
The players stroll onto the field. It’s a gorgeous evening in Seville, with temperatures around 30 degrees. It’s 9pm on a Sunday!
“Hang on!” shouts Charles Antaki. “Thomas Vermaelen in the back three - is that the same Thomas Vermaelen, 87, (actually 35, but hey), was pretty good when he played for Arsenal, pretty poor when he played (when not injured) for FC Barcelona, and who-knows-how-good when playing nine games in the J-League this year? I know that Ronaldo isn’t quite as fast as he used to be, but the green lights must already be flashing in his eyes.”
The Belgium back three have a combined age of 101, which is coincidentally the age at which Cristiano Ronaldo plans to start winding down at the highest level.
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The reward for tonight’s winners is a mouthwatering quarter-final against Italy in Munich on Friday night. The winners of that game will play France, Switzerland, Spain or Croatia in the semis.
Two players are on a yellow card and will miss the quarter-final if they are booked tonight: Thorgan Hazard for Belgium, Ruben Dias for Portugal.
In other news, congratulations to England on the Czech Republic’s surprise victory in Budapest
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Pre-match reading
Team news
Joao Palhinha and Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot make their full internatonal debuts for Portugal, having been picked ahead of Danilo and Nelson Semedo. The out-of-form Bruno Fernandes is again omitted.
Belgium’s team is pretty much as expected; Thomas Vermaelen has been chosen as the third centre-back.
Belgium (3-4-2-1) Courtois; Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, T Hazard; De Bruyne, E Hazard; Lukaku.
Substitutes: Mignolet, Sels, Boyata, Carrasco, Mertens, Denayer, Dendoncker, Benteke, Batshuayi, Trossard, Doku, Praet.
Portugal (4-1-4-1) Rui Patricio; Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Guerreiro; Joao Palhinha; Bernardo Silva, Joao Moutinho, Renato Sanches, Diogo Jota; Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Lopes, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Fonte, Andre Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Danilo, Ruben Neves, Pedro Goncalves, Joao Felix, Sergio Oliveira, Nuno Mendes.
Referee Felix Brych (Germany).
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Preamble
In a few hours’ time, either Belgium or Portugal will be out of Euro 2020. Gone. Next plane home. Forget it, it’s over. It feels too early for such a titanic clash, but that’s the delicious jeopardy you get at major tournaments – especially when some of the third-placed teams qualify. Exhibit A: 24 June 1990. Like Brazil that day, Belgium could become collateral damage from the group of death.
With a respectful nod to Croatia v Spain, this is the tie of the round – the team ranked no1 in the world against the reigning champions (and the world no5). Both teams are deluxe motley crews, if that isn’t an oxymoron; a slightly odd mixture of galacticos, geriatricos and Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielders.
There’s a huge amount of experience on both sides, and both starting XIs should share around 750 caps. The downside is that Belgium are running out of time to win a trophy before their golden generation turns to base metal. But Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku look of a mind to address this particular issue, and they breezed through the group stage.
Things were a lot hairier for Portugal, and at one stage on Wednesday night they were going out. Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth goal of the tournament calmed their nerves, and tonight he has the opportunity to add another string to his GOAT credentials by becoming the leading scorer in international football history. Ronaldo is on 109, level with Fifa 98 legend Ali Daei of Iran. One hundred and nine goals. That’s more than the entire Portugal team scored throughout the 1980s.
Kick off 8pm BST, 9pm in Seville.
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