AC Jimbo and chums discuss the first quarter-final here, while you can see Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and the other players rated on this brilliant interactive. Can Portugal stutter and stumble all the way to glory? Check out who stands in their way on our wallchart
David Hytner was our man at the Stade Vélodrome. Read his match report:
Right, I have been summoned to go and talk about this in the Football Daily podcast. What is there to say? Really? I’ve forgotten the first half, when it was actually quite entertaining. Oh well, I’ll give it a go. Thanks for your emails and tweets. The match report will be up below this entry shortly. Bye.
One thing is for sure, Portugal have found what it is that Ricardo Quaresma is good at! He is an extra-time and penalties specialist. Not much work out there for a player like that but handy in tournament football.
Joy for Portugal! Heartache for Poland! You have to feel for Jakub Blaszczykowski. He has had a torrid time and revealed some harrowing details about his childhood during this tournament. Did Portugal deserve to go through more than Poland did? Not really. Both sides took their foot off the accelerator for the duration of the second half and extra-time. Portugal will have to be more adventurous against Wales or Belgium. If only to win over neutral fans.
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Portugal are into the semi-finals!
Portugal score! Quaresma slams it into the top-left corner and that’s that. He holds his nerve, Portugal are through. Penalties: Portugal 5-3 Poland.
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Poland miss! Blaszczykowski goes to Patricio’s left and the keeper saves brilliantly. Penalties: Portugal 4-3 Poland.
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Portugal score! Nani stutters with his runup but sidefoots into the top right corner. Penalties: Portugal 4-3 Poland.
Poland score! Glik blasts it home! Penalties: Portugal 3-3 Poland.
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Portugal score! Moutinho is cool. Right footed he sends Fabianski the wrong way. Penalties: Portugal 3-2 Poland.
Poland score! Milik slides it into the left corner with his left foot. Penalties: Portugal 2-2 Poland.
Portugal score! Sanches, 18 years old, has stones. He rifles it into the top-left corner. Penalties: Portugal 2-1 Poland.
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Poland score! Lewandowski rolls it home superbly. Penalties: Portugal 1-1 Poland.
Portugal score! Ronaldo right footed sends Fabianski the wrong way. Penalties: Portugal 1-0 Poland.
Right, Ronaldo to go first for Portugal. He’s had a torrid night. Will it get better here?
OK, so Poland’s penalties were excellent against Switzerland. Can they repeat the feat? Portugal have a decent record on penalties too.
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Peep! And that's that! We're going to penalties!
Whoop!
ET 120 min: Kaputska has a shot blocked by Pepe and then Piszczek sums this game up with an ugly and wild swipe over the bar.
ET 118 min: Blaszczykowski dinks a ball in towards Lewandowski but Pepe heads clear under a lot of pressure. That was a fine clearance.
ET 116 min: Quaresma tries to do something. He flicks the ball over his head one way. Then he does the same thing the other way. Then he loses the ball. Sometimes football can be brilliant. This isn’t one of those times.
ET 115 min: Kaputska squares a ball across goal after some neat chest control took him away rom his marker. But no one is in the six yard box and it was a little high anyway.
ET 114 min: Andy Townsend is talking about the security around this game. Yup, that’s how good it is.
ET 113 min: “Watching yet more extra time dross, when was the last time we saw an actual decent 30 extra mins?” asks Eugene Fogarty, helpfully answering the question himslef. “Italy Germany ‘06? That’s 10 years ago now! Surely there’s another way? All this does is make a boring game even more boring in memories.”
ET 111 min: Kaputska, who has been busy since his introduction, tries to nick the ball past Pepe but is halted expertly. Portugal go down the other end and win a corner but that comes to nothing. On we go …
ET 110 min: Some excitement! Ah, but it’s a pitch invader who is responsible for it.
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ET 109 min: An important question is asked by David Hunter. “What do penalties smell of? Fear. Bile. Exhilaration. Nausea. Wasted opportunity/life. Success. Triumph. Waste.”
ET 107 min: Poland win a corner. Milik to take it … It’s a tired corner, bobbling in at the near post and actually causing Pepe to clear uncomfortably.
Peep!
ET 105 min: Kapustka has a shot blocked and then Blaszczykowski skies his effort when he pounces on the rebound. Oh come on!
More Scrabble nonsense: “Given the paucity of high-value letters (one Z, one K, one J), both Blaszczykowski and Jedrzejczyk would require the use of both blank tiles, making them significantly less good plays” – Ben Bishop.
“Kuba’s surname would only get you 22 points if you were playing the Polish version of Scrabble” – Tim Hazell .
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Half-time of extra-time: Poland 1-1 Portugal
Peep! I can smell penalties.
ET 104 min: Poland are showing the greater desire here. They’re somehow managing to get forwards. Portugal look spent. I haven’t seen Sanches in a good half-hour.
@GreggBakowski Does the Football Daily crew now get to bill for overtime hours, or is that as fat a chance as Ronaldo missed?
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) June 30, 2016
I know my bottle of weak lager will be warm when Producer Ben passes it to me Hubert.
ET 102 min: Piszczek feeds Lewandowski on the left wing. The big striker fizzes a fantastic ball across the six-yard box that Milik hasn’t got he legs to attack. Cedric watches it run past him and clears. Lewandowski could have done with being able to teleport himself on to the end of that.
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ET 100 min: Milik thrashes a shot at goal from 20 yards that dips viciously but goes a yard wide of Patricio’s left upright. Lewandowski was in a great position to his right and won’t be very happy that he wasn’t played in.
ET 99 min: Quaresma has a shot from 16 yards that Glik blocks with his tail … and then Nani has a header from eight yards that has about as much belief in it as Richard Dawkins.
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ET 97 min: More red-hot substitution action! Maczynski, who has put in a shift tonight, is off and Jodlowiec is on. Meanwhile, Justin Kavanagh is enjoying the action so much he has come up with a Queresma haiku: “The sub Quaresma. So deadly from six inches. Polish panic now.”
ET 96 min: Carvalho is off and Danilo is on. He’ll refuel Portugal’s midfield tank.
ET 95 min: Ronaldo gives Nani a mouthful for underhitting a pass to him. At least he passed the ball. I can’t remember Ronaldo doing likewise tonight. The result is that Krychowiak eats up the ground and steals the ball off him.
ET 93 min: Blaszczykowski treis to slide a clever pass in behind the Portugal defence for Milik but it’s just got a little too much on it and races through to Patricio.
ET 92 min: He’s done it again! Eliseu whips in a fierce ball with his left foot that Ronaldo just has to divert into the net wit any part of his anatomy. He opts for the outside of his left boot and misses the ball again. In fact, it hits his heel. Maybe he was unsighted by Pazdan.
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Peep! Extra time!
ET 91 min: Someone do something! Please!
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If Poland are going to make it to the semi-final I can only imagine it will be on penalties. They look shattered. Portugal marginally better. Moutinho may get his creative juices flowing again and create a chance or two. That second half was poor, wasn’t it?
More emails!
“One of the great pleasures of watching Portugal for the last ten years has been the Pinky and The Brain dynamic between Nani and Ronaldo. One is a genius trying to take over the world, the other’s a plank and is definitely not thinking what the other is thinking,” honks Pádraig McAuliffe.
“I’m with you on the new kick-off rule (45 min),” writes Peter Oh. “Are teams required play the ball backward, or is it an option? If I recall correctly, I saw a side in a recent match at the Euros kick off in the old-school style. I guess in the name of progress sometimes you have to go backward. I played in an indoor soccer league for many years, and in one venue the goal was within tantalising reach of the center circle. On rare occasions when the scoreline and clock demanded a rapid response, I would attempt to score straight from the re-start. I actually got a handful of the shots to sneak into the net between the crossbar and the unsuspecting keeper, and those moments remain among my personal highlights.”
“Re Scrabble’s Blaszczykowski, if proper nouns were allowed in scrabble, Blaszczykowski (without premium tile bonuses) would be a base score of 50 points. This is not even the high word:
Jedrzejczyk: 53
Piszczek: 34
Grosicki : 15
Nawalka: 14
and so on.
Fair to say if Portugal vs Poland were to square off on the Scrabble board, it would be another sad nap for Ronaldo (8 points)” – Jim Dryden.
We're going to extra-time!
90+3 min: Blaszczykowski knocks in a free-kick that Glik heads up in the air for Patricio to catch as easy as you like. Peep!
90+1 min: Poland’s defence and midfield is spread across the penalty area. Portugal probe but they can’t find a way through. Poland break, with Krychowiak steaming forwards in midfield but he is cynically dragged back by Carvalho. A clearer yellow card you’ll not see.
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89 min: Kapustka is booked for a late tackle on Nani, his studs planting themselvs on the top of the forward’s left boot. Advantage is played but Milik is penalised for an errant elbow into the side of Moutinho’s noggin. Quaresma’s free-kick finds Pepe, but his header is looped at Fabianski and caught easily.
87 min: Poland have a little forage down the right with Blaszczykowski but they quickly run out of ideas. Portugal have defended ever so well. They have given Poland so little space in behind.
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84 min: Moutinho dinks a delicious ball over the Poland defence for Ronaldo, who times his run to perfection, watches the ball over his shoulder, but takes airswipes at. Again! It’s not happening for him. But what vision from Moutinho. That pass really was lovely.
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82 min: Grosicki, who has run his legs to the bone tonight, is off. On in his place is the teenage wonderkid Kapustka. He is a bag of tricks and energy. That’s what Poland need right now. They have very little creative juice left.
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80 min: Jedrzejczyk has almost scored an own goal from 18 yards! Pepe tried to thread a ball in behind the full-back to Ronaldo, who would have had a clear shot on goal from 12 yards, but Jedrzejczyk’s outstretched boot gets a vital touch that prevents a clear chancebut also makes the whole of Poland hold its breath. A corner. A corner that is knocked in way too deep.
79 min: Joao Mario is hooked. On in his stead is enigmatic Ricardo Quaresma, the matchwinner against Croatia.
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76 min: This second half has deteriorated badly. Adam Nawalka seems to have an aversion to making substitutions. Poland need fresh legs. Ronaldo lays the ball off to Joao Mario, but his shot is woeful. Moments later he wins a corner. It’s a good one, finding Fonte’s forehead, but the ball is powered right at Fabianski.
74 min: Nani tries to dribble past Scrabble’s Blaszczykowski but the Poland midfielder watches the ball intently and picks his pocket. A flick of the boot finds Piszczek and off Poland go. Piszczek plays a low ball to Grosicki on the left. He cuts inside and wallops the ball towards the moon. That move had promise. Promise that just buggered off.
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72 min: “You’ve just mentioned Blaszczykowski again. I’m still trying to figure out if his first names are Ctrl C or Ctrl V,” wonders Andy Gordon. Moutinho is on for Silva. Their possession stats should go up a couple of per cent now.
70 min: Silva I booked for a foul on, I think, Piszczek. It was a decision by the assistant ref so I’m not too sure. Portugal finally get hold of the ball and this gam is anybody’s. Neither has built up a head of steam at any point in the game. Both have simmered without ever reaching boiling point.
68 min: Grosicki and Jedrzejczyk play a simple give and go, releasing the Poland left-back to the byline. He scoops a cross back towards Milik who, under pressure from Pepe, sidefoots a volley from six yards straight at Patricio. Promising from Poland this …
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67 min: John Whelan is floating around in the ether aimlessly. “I used to root for teams based solely on who I wanted us (England) to knockout on the way to the trophy. So of course I’m rooting for Portugal because no tournament victory would be complete without tonking them. Then I remembered we lost to Iceland and were out of the World Cup after two games. I’m lost.”
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65 min: Glik is given a yellow card after being bamboozled by a Ronaldo body shift and flick and deciding to just take him out in the pub-football style. The free-kick’s near the halfway line and leads to nothing.
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64 min: Cedric sweet-spots a shot towards Fabianski’s top-right corner that is this close. That was moving and had the Poland keeper beaten.
62 min: Krychowiak goes on a muscular trundle forwards, all huff and puff and arms and legs. He needs an option but doesn’t get one. The result is that he tries to beat Pepe in a leg race. He doesn’t. So he bundles the Portugal defender over and concedes a free-kick.
59 min: Ronaldo continues to splutter, taking an air shot with his left foot after a low cross from Eliseu on the left wing. Poland clear but only to Silva, who laces a shot at goal from 25 yards that is blocked by Krychowiak.
57 min: Milik drops deep to play a one-two with Blaszczykowski, who he sends scampering up the right wing. The midfielder checks his run and then tries to whip a ball into the box but Pepe snuffs out the danger. Apart from the first three minutes of the first half, the Portugal defence has looked very mean indeed.
55 min: Ronaldo slaps a left-footed shot from 15 yards into the sidenetting. He’d been sent clear by a nicely-weighted ball from Silva. There was no conviction in that shot at all.
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53 min: Poland enjoy a long spell of sterile possession, dragging the Portugal formation all over the place before Maczynski fires a low pass towards Jedrzejczyk, who had sneaked in behind Cedric and Sanches but who was about an inch offside. A warning for Portugal.
52 min: Sanches whip a cross into the near post but Fabianski gathers it easily. He was the only player anywhere near it. There wasn’t a Portugal player in sight.
50 min: Sanches gets his legs going up the right flank for Portugal, jinking one way and the other and then laying the ball off to Cedric, shoe cross is too deep. Adrian Silva picks up the ball on the left and swings in a cross aimed at Ronaldo. His leap near Fabianski discomforts the keeper, who drops the cross before gathering it at the second attempt. Shades of Arsenal there.
48 min: Portugal can’t get on the ball. This time Blaszczykowski and Piszczek do get their signals in tandem and play a lovely one-two before Piszczek’s low cross aimed at Milik is intercepted, vitally, by Fonte. Moments later Lewandowski tries to head at goal from somewhere below sea-level but he can’t generate the power or direction to bother Patricio. An impressive start from Poland. One that mirrors the one they made in the first half.
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46 min: Poland have a decent spell of possession but then Piszczek misreads the signals he is getting from Blaszczykowski and knocks the ball straight out of play.
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Peep! It's the second half!
45 min: Portugal get us under way. Am I the only person who thinks the new rule allowing one player to knock the ball straight back is a bad one? Some of the most iconic football picture are of two players awaiting kick-off in the centre-circle.
Half-time missives
“Me and some 3000 Polish supporters sitting in the effin’ rain by the Wisla watching the game, physically holding on the huge blow-up tele-screen! We ain’t leaving even if lighting (or Ronaldo) strikes!” – Filip Gieldon.
“Re: blootering balls out of play and overhit free-kicks and corners. There does seem to be a lot of overhit balls at this tournament. Is that nerves or is it down to the ball traveling further in the heat of a French summer than an English or Polish winter, Gregg? It almost makes you nostalgic for Steven Gerrard and his underhit corners that never cleared the first defender.” – Justin Kavanagh.
“I thought it had been definitely established that Fernando Santos is a character created and acted by Elliott Gould as part of some strange mockumentary that has gone completely out of hand” – Kári Tulinius.
@GreggBakowski Sanches plays like the player Raheem Sterling thinks is the player he is.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) June 30, 2016
“You’ve got to expect Cristiano Ronaldo to come out for the second half with some extra fire. He’s got to be fuming that he’s not the one to have scored for his team. And to add extra humiliation with that goal Renato Sanches has broken Cristiano’s record for youngest goalscorer in a knockout game for Portugal” – J.R. in Illinois.
“I bet the suits in Bayern Munich Towers are pleased with the identities of the goalscorers in this match, so far. Although Lewandowski and Renato Sanches might only meet in the revolving door, with the former rumored to be on his way out while the latter is set to join later this summer. – Peter Oh.
“Hello Gregg! I’m at work, and I’m gonna start taking a shot every time Ronaldo blasts a free kick into the wall. Odds on how plastered I’ll be after the end? Cheers!” – Adeniyi Ajiboye.
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Half-time: Poland 1-1 Portugal
That was much better than most people thought it would be. Poland have been dangerous on the break; Portugal are growing into the game. Sanches is a livewire all right. Santos has played his cards right by selecting him. Stay tuned for the second half.
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45 min: Grosicki stretches his legs one last time in this half as Krychowiak fires a low diagonal ball into the corner for him to chase. If the grass was long he’d have got it. But it’s not. It’s a goal-kick. And that’s that
43 min: Sanches is having a wonderful few minutes. He’s chock full of youthful vim and vigour. You could bottle him and sell him as an energy drink. He twists inside Jedrzejczyk and then tears into the box only to be halted by Maczynski. Fine reading of the game.
40 min: Jedrzejczyk is booked for holding on to Carvalho as the Portugal midfielder tries to run clear on the halfway line. It’s a needless foul and one that will lead to his suspension for the semi-final, if Poland make it through.
37 min: Portugal had been gradually getting a grip of the game before the goal but Poland haver responded well here. Krychowiak thunders into a tackle with Ronaldo that leaves the Portugal captain writhing around for all of as long as it takes before he realises Krychowiak is not going to get booked. It’s a sign they don’t intend to be bossed around.
34 min: A look at the replay reveals the ball actually took a deflection off Krychowiak which left Fabianski rooted. It hit Krychowiak’s arm and veered into the corner. Still, if you don’t buy a ticket …
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Goal! Poland 1-1 Portugal (Sanches 32)
What a way to announce yourself on the international stage! Sanches has thundered a left-footed shot into the corner from the edge of the box. Nani played a key part too, flicking the ball back to Sanches on the right who, on the run, shifted the ball with electric speed and thrashsed it at goal with his left foot.
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31 min: Lookalike chat from Charles Antaki: “When we cut to the Portugal bench, I’ve been wondering who it is that Fernando Santos reminds me of, especially when (as now), he’s got that haunted, worried look - it’s that man of yesteryear, Jack Straw. What that augurs for Portugal in this game is not clear, but doesn’t feel good.”
30 min: Portugal have a very good penalty shout waved away by Brych. Pazdan clumsily barged into Ronaldo as the ball came in from the left. It would be a free-kick anywhere else on the pitch. Perhaps the fact that Ronaldo was unlikely to get a clean head on the ball went against Portugal there. Seemed like a penalty to me though.
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27 min: Nani nicks possession in midfield and motors away from Krychowiak. He feeds Ronaldo on the edge of the box, who does a dragback at lightning speed that leaves Pazdan staring at the turf, before firing a shot at goal that cuts the daisies through to Fabianski’s grateful gloves
25 min: Silva pops up on the left and switches the ball sharply on to his left foot before dinking a cross into the box. It’s not a good cross – Glik clears it – but from small acorns and all that.
24 min: Portugal are providing very little entertainment so here’s Miles O Shea to fill the gap. “Working at a record shop in the nineties alongside a founding ex-member of The Fall, I popped off to the loo... then heard through the door his voice - ‘Want a broom ?’ A broom ? For what ? Exercises? When the cloud of reverance and incomprehensibility had passed I realised he’d said, ‘brew’.”
22 min: The corner is cleared but back come Poland. Jedrzejczyk and Blaszczykowski play some lovely triangular stuff on the left with Blaszczykowski popping up in the box and playing a low cross towards Lewandowski that is blocked by Pepe. Nice football. Did you see how many times I wrote Blaszczykowski then too. Blaszczykowski. Don’t you just love CTRL C and CTRL V?
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21 min: Milik thrashes a shot at goal from 20 yards that Pepe blocks. Corner …
20 min: Poland look slippers-and-cigar comfortable here. When they have the ball in attack they also look threatening. Milik and Lewandowski are moving well and Grosicki and Blaszczykowski are providing handy width. Krychowiak and Maczynski are bossing midfield too.
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19 min: Glik wins a header above Ronaldo. Oh, Ronaldo didn’t like that. He crouches on the floor and looks pleadingly towards Felix Brych in the hope of being given a free-kick. Nope. Nothing going.
17 min: Poland break. Blaszczykowski finds Lewandowski, who turns sharply to Fonte’s left, shifts the ball to his right and fires a shot straight at Patricio that the goalkeeper gathers smartly. A minute earlier, Lewandowski shot wide. He’s in the mood all right.
16 min: The sound of 30,000 Poles laughing greets Ronaldo’s free-kick, walloped straight into the wall. A predictable waste.
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15 min: Ronaldo wins a free-kick about 40 yards out. He’s not going to go for it is he? Oh yes, he is …
12 min: The corner comes to nothing. Is it just me or is the search for perfection on set-pieces making them much worse? Free-kicks and corners have now become ludicrous exercises in curl and dip when they used to be a little more routine but much more fun.
11 min: Pazdan makes a vital interception as Cedric tries to find Ronaldo after steaming up the right flank. Well, you can’t say the Southampton full-back is not trying to make up for his earlier error. Corner for Portugal.
8 min: Portugal finally settle on the ball, Sanches prodding and probing and being a constant outlet. He switches play brilliantly to Cedric, who dampens the ball down for Ronaldo to crash a volley into Pazdan’s buttocks. Better from Portugal. It’s something at least.
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6 min: Nani gives the ball away shabbily. Poland are seeing a lot of the ball here – and taking care of it too. This wasn’t how this match was supposed to go.
4 min: Grosicki was a constant threat against Switzerland. The way he got behind Cedric so easily then will give him a shedload of confidence to get forwards whenever possible.
Goal! Poland 1-0 Portugal (Lewandowski 2)
Lewandowski emphatically announces himself at Euro 2016! Cedric, who had just made a very good tackle on Grosicki, misreads the bounce of a crossfield ball and watches it arrive at Grosicki’s feet behind him. He scampers forwards and pulls the ball back to Lewandowski. On the penalty spot, the Bayern striker makes no mistake, sidefooting home with power and precision.
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Peep! We're off!
1 min: Poland, wearing white, get us underway. They blooter the ball out for a throw-in with their third touch. Let’s hope that’s not a sign of the quality to come.
Both teams gather around the centre-circle for a moment’s applause for the 43 victims of the Turkey terror attack in Istanbul.
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Poland’s is also a cheery number: Poland Is Not Yet Lost! Their fans will hope the team have not yet lost in 90 minutes’ time. Right. Singing is done. In the passion stakes that was a 1-1 draw.
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Anthem time! First Portugal. The team link arms and belt out the jaunt-sounding A Portuguesa. The players give it some welly. Well done.
The teams are in the Stade Velodrome tunnel. Ronaldo and Lewandowski are wearing their best focus-faces. The noise reaches a crescendo … and out they come.
Alex Hanton has kind of done a Ronaldo … badly. “I used to work in a relatively isolated part of an office and thus thought nothing of dropping to the floor to do a few pushups. Unfortunately, I was also very weak, which led to my boss sweeping in one day to find me lying motionless face down on the floor. Not sure if she bought my explanation that I was just taking a quick breather since we never spoke of the incident again.”
“Evening Gregg. No exercise-related stories from me, I’m afraid,” writes Tim Hazell. “Just to tell you that pre-match excitement is reaching fever pitch here in Poland and there is nobody on the streets. The player that has come in for most praise amongst the media and fans here, incidentally, is Michal Pazdan, who was never really a favourite before this tournament but is now generally regarded as the personification of this team’s fighting spirit. The only player that’s been getting some stick is Milik for his missed chances. Lewandowski is generally thought to be doing a lot of hard work and making things possible for other team-mates (as well as getting the crap kicked out of him on a regular basis) and no-one begrudges him his lack of goals - mind you he’d have to commit a war crime to receive anything other than praise from anyone here. Enjoy the match. Do boju Polska!”
“I like how we all expect that this game will be so dull that we need a riff,” pipes up Drew Gough. “Quick question regarding your experience with a working out colleague: if the room was dark, how were you able to confirm that Jimbo was doing press-ups? Did you just take his word for it?” Nope, wasn’t Jimbo I’m afraid Drew. I imagine Jimbo has a swanky gym membership so no press-ups in the dark for him.
I miss Raul Meireles and his incredible beard. Admittedly, his facial hair got so big it probably contributed to him becoming about as zippy as a crab around midfield. Maybe he will turn up at Bournemouth, as was rumoured last week. His stylings would suit the south coast.
Before kick-off tonight Uefa has announced there will be a “moment of applause” in memory of the 43 victims of the gun and bomb attack at Istanbul’s main airport this week.
“The two teams and spectators will participate in a moment of applause in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Istanbul and other attacks which have occurred during the tournament,” said Uefa in a statement.
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Ronaldo is limbering up at the Stade Velodrome. Do you think he knows that ball’s there?
On the subject of colleagues exercising in weird places, Patrick Sullivan writes: “As a lawyer, it’s hard to find time to exercise. So my managing partner did as a sensible millionaire should: he would stretch and do squats on conference calls with junior attorneys watching aghast. At least he muted the phone for the grunting. But no avoiding the sweat smell …”
One thing that struck me about Poland in the match against Switzerland is how much they tired late in the second half. Their style of play involves a great deal of running given that they don’t usually play a possession game themselves. They may need to get their noses in front early as Portugal are likely to come on strong late in the game.
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Renato Sanches starts for Portugal!
So, the bright young hope of Portuguese football will get to give Robert Lewandowski a close-up look of what the Poland striker can expect from him when they join up as Bayern Munich team-mates next season. Joao Moutinho will watch on from the bench.
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Team news!
Poland: Fabianski, Piszczek, Glik, Pazdan, Jedrzejczyk, Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Maczynski, Grosicki, Milik, Lewandowski. Subs: Szczesny, Cionek, Jodlowiec, Linetty, Stepinski, Wawrzyniak, Peszko, Salamon, Zielinski, Kapustka, Starzynski, Boruc.
Portugal: Rui Patricio, Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Eliseu, William Carvalho, Joao Mario, Renato Sanches, Adrien Silva, Nani, Ronaldo. Subs: Lopes, Bruno Alves, Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, Eder, Vieirinha, Danilo Pereira, Rafa, Quaresma, Eduardo.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Raymond Reardon dusts off his big book of football history and writes: “In 95 years of international football, Poland have only ever played July football in two tournaments and four friendlies in the 1920s & 1930s. This Poland team have the chance of emulating the great Polish teams of the 1974 and 1982 World Cups who were beaten in July semi-finals but managed to come back and win third-place playoffs in both the 1974 (1-0 v Brazil) and 1982 (3-2 v France) World Cups. The semi-finals that they lost in those tournaments interestingly were to Germany 1974 (0-1) and Italy 1982 (0-2), who they will manage to avoid in the semi-finals of the 2016 European Championships should they get past Portugal this evening.” So perhaps they should stop the clocks if they win tonight then Ray?
I’m still awaiting the team news but it’s likely that Southampton’s José Fonte will keep his place in the Portugal defence after his impressive display against Croatia. He also told an impressive anecdote about Cristiano Ronaldo from their time together at Sporting Lisbon yesterday. “I just remember him doing push-ups in the shower. He would say to everyone, ‘I will do more push-ups than you in the shower after training’. And he would.” It’s not at all surprising is it?
I once stumbled across a colleague doing press-ups in the Guardian Towers changing rooms (yes, we have those) but in the dark! All I could hear were pained huuunnghhhhss and heavy breathing. I won’t name names. I still get the jitters when I’m down in the basement late at night before I cycle home. Erm, so continue that riff if you want. Encountering colleagues who exercise in weird places? Yeah, probably a bit niche.
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Preamble
Hello. You have to go back to 1982 to recall the last time Poland went as far in a major competition as they have done here. They finished third in the World Cup in Spain with a group of players spearheaded by Zbigniew Boniek that are largely considered to be Poland’s golden generation. Adam Nawalka’s current squad has some very talented players in it too but the team’s strength comes from a steely spine and an incredible worth ethic. They have already progressed further than many thought possible and a victory against Portugal tonight would put this team in Poland’s history books, right up there alongside the class of 82. The nation is fizzing with excitement. If only they could have done this four years ago when they were co-hosts. Ah well. The manager, Nawalka, has done a quite magnificent job. And to think, his appointment was greeted with a shrug of the shoulders.
Portugal are no stranger to European Championship quarter-finals. This is their sixth since the stage was introduced, more than any other nation. And the good news is that Portugal will not play as they did against Croatia, which was hardly playing at all. Poland have so far been happy to cede possession and attack in bursts, using the energy of their wide midfielders, the revitalised Jakub Blaszczykowski on the right and the human locomotive Kamil Grosicki on the left, to advance. This means the onus should be on Portugal to attack. Fernando Santos’s side have scored five goals this tournament. They’ve conceded four. It might be that if Robert Lewandowski is ever going to score here, this is the game for it. That said, their defence was much improved against Croatia. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he may cut a frustrated figure against the mean Polish defence. Kamil Glik and Michal Pazdan have been towering figures at the back.
But if Ronaldo sucks up the attention like the selfless soul we all know he is really, then his team-mates could profit. Nani, we’re looking at you. Both sides are handy on the counter-attack but I still feel that Poland are likely to use that particular tactic to better effect than Portugal. Keep an eye on that Portugal defence too. Lewandowski is the most fouled player at Euro 2016. Up against Pepe, there might be all kinds of nonsense going on. The referee, Felix Brych, may need wing mirrors to keep on top of that tussle.
Oh, and Lukasz Fabianski has been in quite remarkable form for Poland this tournament. He’s been everything he wasn’t at Arsenal. A good goalkeeper? Always helpful.
My prediction: Poland 2-1 Portugal
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