Paul Wilson's match report
Full-time: Croatia 0-1 Portugal
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over and many of Croatia’s shattered players fall or hunker down on the turf sobbing at the heartbreaking nature of their defeat. Portugal left it late, but ultimately one with the game’s only shot on target: a Ricardo Quaresma header from about two yards out after 117 minutes. Croatia threw the kitchen sink at Portugal in the remaining minutes, but ultimately came up short. They’re out and Portugal advance to a quarter-final against Poland. The closing minutes aside, it was a dreadful game ... which you can hear more about by tuning into the episode of Euro 2016 Football Daily I have to rush off to record with James Richardson. It’ll be up in all the usual places later tonight or early tomorrow morning.
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ET30+2: Srna crosses from the right, the ball’s headed in the air by Jose Fonte and Vida attempts to hook the ball inside the far post and misses by inches.
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ET29: Perisic goes on a mazy dribble through the box and gets nudged in the back, but stays on his feet.
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ET28: Croatia’s players look absolutely devastated as Portugal celebrate what should be the winning goal. Croatia hit the upright with an Ivan Peresic header, the ball broke kindly for their opponents and they galloped upfield on the break with Sanches on the ball.
He played the ball out to Nani on the left and what looked like a mishit shot found its way to Ronaldo at the far post and his effort was brilliantly saved by Daniel Subasic, who could do little to stop the ball from being teed up for Quaresma to head into a gaping goal at the far post.
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GOAL! Croatia 0-1 Portugal (Quaresma 117)
ET 28: Incredible stuff! Croatia hit the post, then Portugal score on the break courtesy of a Quaresma header into an empty net.
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ET26: Oof! So close for Croatia, as Perisic takes advantage of a Pepe blunder to gallop down the left flank and square the ball. Kalinic stretches, but is unable to convert.
ET25: We’re into the final five minutes of extra time and both teams, to their immense credit, are showing no signs of being happy to settle for penalties. Perisic attempts to make room for a shot on goal just inside the Portugal penalty area, but is given little or no wriggle room by Portugal’s defence.
ET23: Croatia win a corner, which Brozovic takes. His ball to the far post is excellent and prompts Patricio to come off his line but get nowhere near the ball. Vida has a free header, but is unable to get high enough to direct a header on target. Over the bar.
ET20: Good play from Croatia, who attack on the counter attack courtesy of a Pjaca slalom down the right flank. He plays the ball in to Brozovic on the edge of the penalty area, whose through ball towards Kalinic is cut out.
ET17: “Christ this is hard going, well done for hanging in there,” texts a supportive friend, who seems oblivious to the fact that it would be a poor show to abandon my post and adjourn to the nearest pub for a much needed drink. Portugal substitution: Danilo Pereira on for Adrien Silva. Croatia substitution: Marko Pjaca on for Ivan Rakitic.
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ET16: Play resumes with a place against Poland in the quarter-final up for grabs.
Half-time in extre time: Croatia 0-0 Portugal
The referee signals for the interval that, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t actually supposed to take place. The players adjourn to the touchline for some drinks, while Vedran Corluka lies down on a towel for further medical treatment.
ET15: Perisic attempts to convert a cross from the right with a volley from a ridiclously tight angle. Wide. Neither goalkeeper has made a save yet, but it’s looking increasingly likely that one will emerge a hero during a penalty shoot-out that’s looking increasingly inevitable. Here’s hoping we get one - it’s the least we deserve for sitting through 105 minutes (and counting) of this contest so far.
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ET14: Corluka returns to action, but appears to have picked up some manner of groin injury. Activity on the Croatia bench suggests he’ll be replaced sooner rather than later.
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ET13: Corluka, who’s been in the wars throughout this tournament, goes down holding his right hip after a collision during that corner. He signals for treatment and play resumes as the medics are signalled by the referee.
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ET12: Portugal win a corner wide on the left, which Quaresma takes. He slips as he does so, but gets the ball into the mixer, where it’s put out for a corner. Quaresma does the honours again, but his ball towards Pepe is headed clear by Marcelo Brozovic.
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ET11: Ricardo Quaresma dinks a cross from the right into the Croatia penalty area, where Vedran Corluka heads clear.
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ET9: Modric picks up a weak Quaresma clearance on the edge of the outskirts of the Portugal penalty area and attempts to thread a pass through to Ivan Rakitic. It’s intercepted and Portugal clear.
ET7: Poor defending by Fonte, who gifts possession to Kalinic who finds himself alone in possession down the inside right. Instead of cutting inside and bearing down on goal, he slashes wildly at the ball and sends a half-decent chance well wide.
ET6: Raphael Guerreiro sends in a cross from the left, but it’s cleared by Jose Fonte.
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ET4: From the edge of the centre-circle, Vedran Corluka dinks a neat chip to the edge of the Portugal penalty area, from where Ivan Perisic attempts to lob Rui Patricio in the Portugal goal with a deft header. The goalkeeper was off his line and Perisic’s effort wasn’t too far away, but drops over the cross-bar. Great vision from both Croatia players.
ET3: Dario Srna takes responsibility for the free-kick but shoots his effort straight into the defensive wall. It takes a wild deflection out of harm’s way.
ET2: Renato Sanches hacks down Luka Modric to conede a free-kick in a dangerous position, a mite right of centre, about 30 yards from the Portugal goal.
Extra time: Croatia 0-0 Portugal
Portugal get the ball rolling. We’ll have another 30 minutes of this, possibly penalties and then we can all get on with our lives.
Strafe me with your stat gun ...
Shots on target over 90 minutes: Croatia 0-0 Portugal.
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Full time: Croatia 0-0 Portugal
Peep! Peep! Peeeeep! Spanish referee Carlos Carballo signals the end of normal time. We’ll have extra time with the possibility of penalties.
90+4 min: Croatia win a corner. Rakitic sends the ball towards the near post, where Ronaldo heads clear.
90+3 min: Portugal win a free-kick on the right, which Pepe threatens to take before his manager sends him forward. Sanches takes it instead and it’s headed clear.
90+2 min: For Portugal, Cedric sends in a cross from the right, but Srna is back to head clear for Croatia.
90+1 min: Almost! Another wonderful cross from the right by Srna needs Pepe to intercede acrobatically to prevent the ball finding its way to Kalinic. Good defending.
90 min: We’re into the final minute of normal time as extra-time looms. Can anyone summon a late, late winner and spare us another 30 minutes of this dross?
88 min: Portugal substitution: Ricardo Quaresmo on for Joao Mario. Croatia substitution: Nikola Kalinic on for Mario Mandzukic.
86 min: Dario Srna plays the ball into the Portugal penalty area, but Jose Fonte intercepts and clears. Renato Sanches takes possession and sprints past the lunge of Luka Modric, before misplacing his through ball. Cristiano Ronaldo makes no secret of his displeasure as he castigates his young team-mate.
85 min: Ronaldo, who has been playing in an advanced role in this second half, gets on the ball on the halfway line as he retreats in the hope of seeing more of it in a bid to make things happen. He attempts to send Sanches on his way, but the move breaks down.
84 min: Mandzukic is OK to continue despite his heavy landing.
82 min: Mario Mandzukic goes to ground holding the small of his back after wily old Pepe ducked out of his way as the Croatian striker fell to earth after contesting a high ball.
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81 min: Perisic crosses from the left touchline, but the ball’s too close to goal and Rui Patricio comfortably plucks it from the sky.
80 min: Perisic tries a volley from the edge of the penalty area after a Srna pull-back from the byline. High and wide. I don’t think either goalkeeper has made a save in this game yet.
79 min: Christ on a bike, that was awful. Rakitic shapes to curl the ball into the mixer, but wildly overhits the free-kick and sends it sailing out of play instead. It’s been that sort of night.
78 min: William Carvalho is booked for a pull on Marcelo Brozovic as he attempted to chase a Peresic pass down the left flank. Free-kick for Croatia, wide on the left, which Rakitic prepares to take.
76 min: As we enter the final 15 minutes of normal time, Croatia appear to have weathered a long spell of Portuguese pressure and got themselves back into the game.
76 min: Rakitic drives the ball low and hard into the penalty area, but Ronaldo is on hand to clear.
74 min: Croatia win a free-kick just outside the Portugal penalty are, in the space between the right side of the penalty area and the corner flag, for a Sanches shove on Srna. Rakitic stands over the ball.
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72 min: Croatia throw-in, deep in Portugal territory. Dario Srna attempts to get a cross into the penalty area, but his effort is blocked by Raphael Guerreiro.
71 min: Croatia get forward, attack down right and Srna crosses to the far post. Ivan Perisic attempts to score with an ambitious volley from the corner of the six-yard box, but slices his effort well wide.
70 min: Portugal win a free-kick wide on the right for a Rakitic foul on Sanches. Joao Mario curls the ball into the penalty area, but it’s cleared.
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69 min: Nani attempts to pick out Ronaldo with a pass to the edge of the Croatia penalty area, but Corluka intercepts.
68 min: Portugal are dominating at the moment, but have yet to create any chances of note. The momentum’s definitely with them as we enter the final quarter of normal time.
65 min: Ronaldo, who has barely had a kick of the ball in this half, is cutting an increasingly isolated and dejected figure. No signer do I type that sentence than William Carvalho finds him with a ball over the top, but Vida is on hand to clear the danger as Ronaldo attempts to bring the ball down on his chest.
64 min: Nani goes down in the penalty area after finding himself on the receiving end of a kick from Strinic, who was trying to hook the ball away. Portugal’s appeals for a penalty fall on deaf ears and replays suggest Croatia were very, very lucky there.
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62 min: Croatia win a free-kick wide on the right and Dario Srna curls in a wonderful cross. With the ball heading towards Mario Mandzukic, Domagoj Vida leaps in front of his team-mate and skims a header wide. Unmarked behind him, Mandzukic looked a certainty to bury that header if Vida hadn’t beaten him to the ball.
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61 min: Ivan Strinic gets in a good cross from the left, but Jose Fonte is on hand to help the ball out for a throw-in deep in Portugal territory.
60 min: Now it’s Brozovic’s turn to wave an apology, having sent a cross high and wide.
57 min: Joao Mario and Renata Sanches play a neat one-two on the edge of the Croatia box, before the substitute drags a low shot well wide of the left upright.
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56 min: Luka Modric tries his luck with a left-footed effort from distance, but sends the ball sailing high over the bar. He grins sheepishly and waves a hand by way of apology to his team-mates.
55 min: Vedran Corluka hacks the ball down the right flank, where Jose Fonte is on hand to head it clear. The Southampton centre-half is called into action out on the left again as Croatia maintain their pressure.
53 min: Croatia take the corner short, with Portugal’s players caught day-dreaming. The ball finds its way to Brozovic, who blazes over from a narrow(ish) angle about 12 yards out. Finally, some signs of life to rouse the crowd from their slumber.
50 min: Ivan Strinic turns on the afterburners, hares down the left, gets in behind the Portugal defence and whips in a cross. Marcelo Brozovic leaps but fails to get his head to the ball. That was a great chance for Croatia to open the scoring. The ball’s put out for a corner.
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49 min: Portugal substitution: Ranto Sanches on for Andre Gomes, who I think is carrying a knock that he was unable to run off in the opening minutes of the second half.
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49 min: Pepe receives a pass from his goalkeeper and is immediately put under pressure and loses the ball.
47 min: Modric sprints through midfield with the ball at his feet and attempts to pick out Ivan Rakitic with a pass towards the corner flag. It’s quick thinking on his part, but he slightly over-hits his pass and the ball runs out of play.
46 min: “I think there’s too much talent on this pitch for it to go all the way to penalties at 0-0,” says Glenn Hoddle. Here’s hoping he’s right. If ever a game was crying out for a goal, it’s this one.
Second half: Croatia 0-0 Portugal
We go again: There are no changes in personnel on either side.
Some reader correspondence
“It’s not quite Glastonbury – but I’m emailing you from the very lovely Weston Homes Community Stadium, where tonight Lionel Richie will be entertaining the good people of Colchester,” writes long-time reader and occasional emailer Alison Jeeves, formerly of the Hammersmith Apollo box office.
“The most interesting thing about this game so far is Ivan Perisic’s hair cut,” writes Andrew Chapman. “Says it all really!”
Half-time: Croatia 0-0 Portugal
The players head back to the dressing room to think about what they’ve subjected their supporters to. They won’t care about the poor quality fare that’s been served up, but for neutral observers it’s been dire. The kind of scrappy, turgid football people trying to sound intelligent might describe as “absorbing, like a chess match”. Don’t be fooled - it’s been awful.
45+1 min: Another foul, this time as the ball is played towards Dida on the near post. He rids himself of his marker with a shove in the back which doesn’t go unnoticed by referee Carlos Carballo.
45 min: Another foul, this time on Rakitic, wide on the left. He curls the ball into the penalty area, where Pepe puts the ball out for a corner. Good defending from the pantomime villain. There were two Croatian players lurking behind him.
44 min: Croatia advance, with Srna playing a cross-field pass from deep up towards Ivan Perisic. Cedric prevents him from getting on the ball.
43 min: Andre Gomes is penalised for a niggly foul on Luka Modric.
41 min: Croatia get forward down the left, but Strinic’s cross from the left is wayward, allowing Portugal to clear easily, with Fonte doing the honours.
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38 min: Brozovic fouls William Carvalho to concede a free-kick in the middle third. Moments later, Rakitic is fouled and Croatia win a free-kick in the exact same spot. I won’t lie, I’m already dreading the prospect of extra time and there’s still five minutes of the first half left to play.
37 min: Croatia win a free-kick for a foul on Srna wide on the right flank. Ivan Rakitic curls the ball towards Vida, but the centre-half is unable to connect cleanly with the ball.
36 min: “It’s not enough at the moment, they’ve got to get some end product,” says ITV co-commentator Glenn HOddle as he admires consecutive bits of on-the-ball skill from Raphael Guerreiro and Joao Mario, halfway inside the Croatia half.
33 min: Fonte is penalised for a shove and kick on Rakitic, getting two fouls in for the price of one about 15 yards inside the Portugal half. Croatia take the free-kick short and eventually win a corner, which Dario Srna takes. It’s a good delivery, but a heavily marked Mandzukic is unable to get a clean header on the ball as it floats his way at the far post.
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32 min: Some slick passing in the middle third as they speed things along in their efforts to get the ball up the pitch. Ronaldo, Cedric and Joaao Mario are all involved, before Vida puts the ball out for a throw-in deep inside his own half.
31 min: Croatia break down the field after Nani’s act of benevolence and Perisic gets in behind the Portugal defence. He cuts in from the byline and unleashes a shot from a narrow angle. It’s well wide.
30 min: Pepe wins the ball from Ivan Rakitic in midfield and picks out Nani, who immediately gives the ball away.
28 min: Move along, nothing to see here. We’re almost half an hour in and neither team has mustered a shot on target yet. It’s very, very cagey.
24 min: Ivan Perisic trips Ronaldo and concedes a free-kick in line with the left side of the Croatia penalty area. The ball’s sent into the penalty area, where Pepe out-jumps Domagoj Vida, but is unable to keep his firm header down. Over the bar, but he should have done better.
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22 min: Good work down the right flank by Perisic, whose go-faster hair enables him to sprint past Cedric and play the ball into the penalty area for Madzukic to chase. Rui Patricio in the Portugal goal is quickest to it and clasps it to his chest.
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21 min: Ronaldo is penalised for catching Dario Srna with a late challenge, treading on his instep as he leaves the foot in after the ball had been dispatched. He’s very apologetic in the aftermath and there appear to be no hard feelings on the Croatia right-back’s part.
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19 min: Pepe tries to pick out Ronaldo with a ball through the centre towards the edge of the Croatia penalty area. Marcelo Brozovic cuts it out and clears. Portugal appear to have found a foothold, but this is far from a classic as we approach midway through the first half.
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17 min: Portugal advance down the left flank, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the ball. Darijo Srna is having none of it.
15 min: Portugal win a corner off Milan Badelj. Joao Mario sends the ball into the penalty area, where it’s cleared. Pretty tedious fare thus far, but Croatia are definitely having the better of proceedings.
13 min: The ball finds its way to Cristiano Ronaldo just outside the Croatia penalty area, but Luka Modric gets back to relieve him of possession.
11 min: Ivan Perisic attempts to cross from the left, but his effort goes out for a throw-in off Cedric. Perisic is rocking a hairstyle that suggests he went to the barber’s and asked for “A short back and sides with red and white check swirl across the back and left side, please.”
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10 min: From the right touchline, Luka Modric attempts to pick out Mario Mandzukic with a cross into the penalty area. Cedric intercepts and clears.
9 min: More slow, patient build-up play from Croatia, with their back four passing the ball between themselves and prompting whistles of impatience from some Portugal fans in the stands.
7 min: Portugal play it out from the back, with Jose Fonte playing it forward to Raphael Guerreiro on the left touchline. He plays it forward to Cedric as Portugal make a rare early sortie into Croatia territory.
5 min: Nothing much to report so far, but Croatia have settled quicker than Portugal, who have been on the back foot since kick-off. Rakitic surges forward, but his attempted pass towards Mandzukic in the penalty area is cut out and cleared.
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4 min: Marcelo Brozovic gets in behind the Portugal defence, only to be dispossessed by a good recovering tackle from William Carvalho.
3 min: Pepe shepherds the ball out of play for a throw-in down by his own corner flag, under pressure from Ivan Rakitic. Cedric takes it.
2 min: Croatia go forward with Modric passing the ball wide to Dario Srna on the right. They enjoy a spell of possession that enables most of their players to get an early touch as the ball is pinged around the pitch.
Croatia v Portugal is go!
1 min: Croatia’s players wear their fetching red and white Italian restaurant tablecloth-style checked shirts, white shorts and red and white checked socks. Portugal, as the designated “away” team, wear their second strip of mint-green shirts with pea green trim, mint-green shorts and dark socks.
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Not long now ...
The teams emerge from the tunnel and line up for the national anthem. Players on both sides look stony-faced of visage and ready for action as they line up either side of referee Carlos Carballo for the national anthems.
Speak of the devil ...
Croatia really impressive so far but their defensive deficiencies have been overlooked, and against Ronaldo could be more obvious tonight
— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) June 25, 2016
Euro 2016 Football Daily
Listeners to our podcast will know that I have a financial interest in this game, having bet Michael Cox £10 that Croatia would triumph this evening. Obviously, in light of recent spiriting-sapping events, it’s now only worth about £7 but it’s the bragging rights I’m thinking about.
A big shout-out, by the way, to anyone following this minute-by-minute report from Glastonbury. Feel free to get in touch with news of what act you’re watching and details of how muddy you are.
Mandzukic and Modric start ...
Mario Mandzukic comes back into the Croatia line-up, which seems a mite harsh on Nikola Kalinic, who was one of the outstanding performers in his side’s win against Spain. It’s no surprise to see Luka Modric welcomed back to the fold, considering he was the tournament’s stand-out player before picking up that injury against the Czech Republic.
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Croatia v Portugal line-ups
Croatia: Subasic, Srna, Corluka, Vida, Strinic, Modric, Badelj, Brozovic, Rakitic, Perisic, Mandzukic.
Subs: Vargic, Vrsaljko, Jedvaj, Kovacic, Kramaric, Schildenfeld, Rog, Nikola Kalinic, Coric, Pjaca, Cop, Lovre Kalinic.
Portugal: Rui Patricio, Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro, Joao Mario, Adrien Silva, William Carvalho, Andre Gomes, Nani, Ronaldo.
Subs: Lopes, Bruno Alves, Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, Eder, Vieirinha, Danilo Pereira, Renato Sanches, Rafa, Eliseu, Quaresma, Eduardo.
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
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Injury updates ...
Croatia are confident that Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic, who missed out on their team’s match against Spain through injury, will be fit enough to at play some part in tonight’s match. Both trained well yesterday as they recovered from muscle strains.
“I cannot say if they’re fit to play the full match, the whole 90 minutes,” said Cacic. “Everything looks good and but I will decide tomorrow before the match.”
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Portugal manager Fernando Santos speaks
“Stats mean nothing,” he said, upon being asked if stats mean anything. Or something. “ There are two very strong sides. I have as my objective to try and win this game. Croatia have immense quality, just like we do. It will be a game with two sides full of great quality and sides who want to go through. It will be a great game, I’m sure. I think we can beat Croatia.”
On the subject of his side’s underwhelming group results and their approach to this game, Santos said: “It will be a totally different game to the ones we’ve had. Austria did things well against Portugal, and a lot of people thought we’d beat Iceland but it didn’t happen. We are prepared to play a completely different game.
“Croatia have had a little bit more rest time. Obviously we’d have liked more time and I’m sure Croatia would’ve too. But right now we’re here and there’s no point crying over spilled milk.”
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Croatia manager Ante Cacic speaks
“This is a make-or-break kind of match,” said Croatia’s manager in his pre-match briefing. “We are moving into the knockout rounds now and this match will only send one of two excellent teams into the next stage of the competition. The other team will unfortunately be sent home.”
Asked about the Portugal side his team will face tonight, Cacic had this to say. “We are facing a team consisting of extremely talented individuals,” he observed. “They perhaps weren’t exceptionally impressive in their group in terms of points won, but they really played well. If we look back, we will remember that they were the dominant team in their matches and created many opportunities.”
On the bouqyets that have been hurled his way by the Croatian media and public, Cacic said: “When a team plays the way we’ve been playing, a knock-on effect is that the coach gets his share of praise as well. Coaches always influence results, both good and bad. Unfortunately, that is more visible with bad results than good ones. I accept the praise I’ve been getting.
“I am not content, though, just like the team is not content. We want to keep going for as long as possible at this tournament. After a long time, we finally have this atmosphere of togetherness in Croatia. Everyone is watching our matches on TV, everyone is rooting for us.”
Greetings sports fans ...
Welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of this evening’s knockout match between Croatia and Portugal at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens. Croatia arrive in town as winners of Group D, having finished above Spain, Turkey and the Czech Republic, while Portugal’s progress through Group F was considerably less serence. They’ve yet to win a game, having got through by dint of draws with Hungary, Iceland and Austria.
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