One-man show Ronaldo puts Portugal into semis

Portugal became the first team to book a spot in the Euro 2012 semi-finals yesterday by beating the Czech Republic 1-0 in the quarter-finals thanks to a late goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s third goal of the tournament came in the 79th minute after he had struck the right post twice earlier in front of 55,590 spectators at National Stadium in Warsaw. Portugal, the 2004 finalists, advanced to the semi-finals for the fourth time following 1984, 2000 and 2004. The Portuguese will next face the winners of holders Spain and France on Wednesday in Donetsk, Ukraine. The Czechs were hoping to reach the semis for the third time following 1996 - when they lost in the final after beating Portugal in the quarter - and 2004. While Portugal were unchanged from their 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, Czech coach Michal Bilek made one change to his line-up with Valdimir Darida taking over from Daniel Kolar in the role of the injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky, still dealing with an Achilles issue. Under a closed roof at Warsaw’s National Stadium, neither team created much offence in the early going and Ronaldo and Portugal were finally dangerous in the 25th minute, running onto a through ball from Fabio Coentrao and testing Czech keeper Petr Cech, who passed the test. The Real Madrid star was a number more spectacular seven minutes later with a bicycle kick from nine yards out, which went well off target. As did a Ronaldo direct free kick attempt in the 35th minute. Ronaldo’s string of bad luck continued in the 49th minute as his free kick from about 25 yards hit the outside of the far right post. It was the sixth time Portugal have hit the framework in the tournament - a new record. Portugal finally found the back of the net but Almeida was ruled offside in the 58th minute. The Iberians continued their onslaught on Cech, who just barely got his hand on Joao Moutinho’s long range blast in the 64th. It was Nani’s turn in the 74th minute as his shot just barely went over the bar. Ronaldo finally found the back of the net in the 79th, flying into Moutinho’s cross and delivering a header which bounced off the ground and past Cech - sending the Portgual fans, including greats Eusebio and Luis Figo into wild celebrations. The Czechs were never able to create much of an attack with just two shots in the entire 90 minutes, neither of them on target.