Ronaldo ends Welsh fairytale

 Cristiano Ronaldo inspired his team to a 2 nil victory over Wales and Portugal booked a spot in the finals as another Euro fairytale saw its end in Stade de Lyon on Thursday. 

Portugal have reached the finals of Euro for only the second time in their history – first being in the year 2004. A big takeaway for Portugal from this game would be that this was the first time that Portugal won a game in 90 minutes in the tournament and that too convincingly.

Wales had come into the match after pulling a huge upset in the semi-final by beating Belgium 3-1 and had become the first Euro debutants to make it to the semis since Sweden in 1992. The Welsh dream run finally came to an end as they were unable catch Portugal off guard and bowed out of the competition.

The match was the fourth meeting between the two sides and the first competitive meet. Portugal had an upperhand according to the records as they had won two times compared to Wales’ one. With the win, Portugal have now managed to beat Wales on three out of the four occasions at which they have met.

Before the game, it was touted to be the clash between the Real Madrid left and right, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. While Bale showed some excellent moves on the pitch to invade into Portugal defence, Ronaldo rose to the occasion to guide Portugal through.

 Despite Bale pulling off some really good attempts on target, Ronaldo got his counted when he found the back of the net and gave Portugal the much required lead.

The first half of the game was cagey as both teams showed wonderful ball play trying to breach each other’s defence but were unable to produce the final ball. Portugal edged Wales in terms of possession though both teams looked equally bright on the forefront. In the first 15 minutes, Portugal showed good movement and creating spaces for themselves. In the 15th minute, Ronaldo passed a good ball towards Joao Mario who shot the ball just wide.

Just 3 minutes later, Wales displayed some patient football and came dangerously close in the Portugal half when Jose Fonte slid to put the ball out. In the 21st minute, Bale showcased his deadly running skills as he made it difficult for the Portuguese to catch up with him but Patricio did well to collect his final shot.

Just towards the end of the first half, Ronaldo got an excellent opportunity to put Portugal ahead as he got a wonderful cross but he headed the ball over.

Post the break, Portugal looked much more clinical and intricate as Wales seemed to be finding it difficult to soak in the pressure – experience speaks.

In the 51st minute, Ronaldo did excellently well to run back and forth to lose his man Chester and unleashed a beastly header to a good Raphael Guerreiro cross.

As Wales were just looking to attack to find an equaliser, the defence, yet again, made a blunder of letting Ronaldo lose with acres of space around him and he struck towards the goal that Nani slid towards and netted in.

Post the two goals, Wales could never really manage to come back in the game as they went desperate and lost their accurate touch. Though Bale had some good moments and shots on target but they were all easy saves for Patricio. After the hour half mark, Portugal twice came close to extending their lead. 

In the 67th minute, Nani found some space in the Welsh box and went for a shot that the Welsh keeper Wayne Hennessey was unable to collected and the ball bounced off for Mario whose strike went wide. In the 77th minute, Bale lost possession to Danilo just outside the Welsh penalty area and Danilo went forward in space but Hennessey hastily saved it just before the goal line.

 Just five minutes before game time, Ronaldo had another brilliant opportunity to score when a great cross sent him clear of the defence but Hennessey and the Welsh defence did well to block him and send him on the right – the angle became too tight for him and he could only find the side net.

 Wales had a brilliant tournament but Portugal outperformed them in the semi-finals and will now face the winner of the Friday’s semi-final between Germany and the hosts France in Stade de France on Monday.