The third knockout game of Euro 2016 saw Croatia taking on Portugal. While the Croatians had pulled off a surprise result by beating Spain and topping their group in the last match, Portugal needed heroics from Cristiano Ronaldo to draw 3-3 with Hungary and finished third in their group.
Both sides knew that they would face Poland in the quarter-final stage should they have progressed but neither side had any real attacking quality in the game with the match ending 0-0 after full-time.
The game only came alive late in the second half of extra-time as Portugal hit Croatia on a counter and Ricardo Quaresma scored off a saved shot from Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic. Portugal might not have played great football but they had that one moment of quality that counted.
We look back at the tie and provide the five talking points.
1) Game lacking real quality
When the best chances of a game fall to two centre-backs, it does provide a sorry tale for those who wanted to see more attacking football on display. Portugal and Croatia both cancelled each other out and the sides were horrendous in attack.
There were no shots on target for 117 minutes of the game, the goalkeepers barely had to do anything apart from taking sips from their drinks bottles and jogging off to change ends.
The fans weren’t having any of it and both sides were booed and jeered at the end of full-time and in extra-time as neither team wanted to lose the game. The knockout stages are nerve-racking and many do freeze up in these games but Portugal and Croatia had the talent to provide a spectacle and failed, massively.
2) Big stars go missing
With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic all hitting form coming into the game, you would have bet your house that one of them would have done a lot of damage to the opposition.
Sadly, not one player provided that bit of magic in the entire tie. Even the goal came due to Croatia losing their shape and not being able to track back to defend in the 117th minute, after Ivan Perisic’s header game off the post.
Cristiano Ronaldo notched up another record to his name by not having a single shot on goal in the first 90 minutes of a European championship game while every other player seemed intent on misplacing passes rather than providing the cutting edge in attack.
The fans weren’t pleased one bit during the entire game, well, until the goal went in. Euro 2016 has been an incredible tournament so far but this match was as drab as they could have come and certainly the likes of Ronaldo should have done better.
3) Renato Sanches was an important change in midfield
The game needed some physicality, at least Portugal did and that is exactly what manager Fernando Santos did in the second half when he brought on Renato Sanches for Andre Gomes in the 49th minute.
The €35 million Bayern Munich midfielder didn’t really do much in the entire tournament but he was taking the fight to the Croatian team and winning more battles in the centre of the pitch than any other player.
Although Sanches didn’t score, it was his run deep in the second half of extra-time which led to the goal. There were glimpses of his quality on the ball but more importantly he was there to win the ball back from the opposition and give Portugal a real physical presence in the game.
Things can only get better for the 18-year-old and maybe he will start the next game against Poland.
4) Domagoj Vida’s misses prove to be costly
The Croatia defender might not have been the man that many expected to have the best chances for the team but the centre-back should have scored twice at least.
Being a defender, you should be able to power headers into the net but Vida missed the target completely on two occasions, both times Rui Patricio, the Portugal goalkeeper, was nowhere to be seen.
The 27-year-old centre-back was also responsible for losing Cristiano Ronaldo in the lead up to the goal for Portugal and he even had a late chance to atone for his misses with a hooked shot that went agonisingly wide for the Croatians.
5) Portugal still aren’t clicking but they are getting the job done
Cristiano Ronaldo’s side might not be playing free-flowing attacking football or even good football but they are somehow getting the job done and now are in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
They are yet to be defeated in the tournament, though you could argue they have won just one game in four and have barely looked like a side that can actually win the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo might be playing his last Euros but these gritty performances could lead them all the way to the final and maybe even European glory.
Euro 2004 was a bitter moment for Ronaldo and maybe, just maybe after 12 years, the Real Madrid man might have something to celebrate with his national side.
