THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST MATCHES OF THIS TOURNAMENT!
Although Portugal put the Czech’s EURO hopes to rest, it took them 79 minutes to do so.
The first half (and most of the match actually) took place on the Czech’s side of the pitch, more specifically in their goal area, this by no means meant that the Portuguese had it easy. The Czech defense was practically impenetrable, and in goal…the part-human-part-bionic man Petr Cech, who ricocheted almost every shot that came at him. Ronaldo, Nani and Moutinho all tried to find the back of the net in the first half, their attempts were either met by the post or Cech’s gloves. As the first half ended, Ronaldo gracefully received a cross, turned and shot, his teammates ran off the bench, the crowd’s eyes widened….but the ball flew off the left side of the goal post and the first half ended 0-0.
After half time, both teams came out with renewed dedication and high energy levels and again, the game was played in front of Petr Cech. The Czech’s continued to thwart the Selecao’s attempts, and Ronaldo began to get frustrated, throwing his hands up and cupping his gel-soaked head in disbelief as shot after shot did not meet its target. With 11 minutes remaining, an expertly executed play gave the Portuguese the moment they had been waiting for. Nani located Moutinho on his right hand side, he then crossed to Ronaldo, who received the ball and sent it sailing passed Petr Cech. The Portuguese were now slightly relieved, but Czech’s were not disheartened, as was evident by Jiracek’s lightning breakaway towards Patricio soon after.
Even with 4 minutes of extra time the Czech’s were unable to equalize, and when the final whistle blew… they had to succumb to the 1-0 reality created by the man wearing the legendary #7 jersey (the original #7, Luis Figo, was in the stands this evening, sitting next to Portuguese football legend Eusebio). It is sad to see the Czechs out after such a great game, they truly made Paulo Bento’s team work hard for their win. Portugal will now sit back and wait to see who emerges from France/Spain showdown.