Belgium knocked defending champions Portugal out of Euro 2020 with a 1-0 victory in the last 16 on Sunday to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final tie against Italy.
A 43rd-minute strike from Thorgan Hazard secured the win for Roberto Martinez’s team, who survived plenty of pressure from the Portuguese in the second half.
But with the finishing touch missing, it was the end of the road for Cristiano Ronaldo and a Portugal team who had triumphed in Paris five years ago.
Ronaldo bows out with five goals from four games, and is currently the tournament’s top scorer. Yet it remains to be seen if the 36-year-old will return for a sixth Euros in Germany in 2024 or if the competition’s all-time top scorer will bow out of national team duty after the Qatar World Cup next year.
Belgium were among the pre-tournament favourites but this was a stodgy and uninspired display and they will need to raise their game significantly if they are to get past Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri who are unbeaten in 31 matches.
Thorgan Hazard’s fine goal was their only effort on target in the whole 90 minutes and there was little invention or flair from their midfield.
“In the first half we were playing high and putting pressure on Portugal, but looking at that second half, we are lucky to win,” said Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen.
The task against Italy could be even more difficult if Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard, who both came off with knocks in the second half, are unable to recover from their latest injury woes.
Portugal began brightly and Diogo Jota wasted a great chance in the sixth minute, dragging his shot wide after Renato Sanches had broken from midfield and found him in a promising position on the left.
Ronaldo then tested Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois with a low-struck free kick as Fernando Santos’s team continued to apply pressure.
But Belgium grew into the game with De Bruyne increasingly influential and they grabbed the lead three minutes before the interval.
‘GRAB YOUR CHANCES’
A smart passing move ended with Thomas Meunier feeding Thorgan Hazard, whose wickedly swerving shot flew past the wrong-footed Portugal keeper Rui Patricio.
Patricio stepped to the right in anticipation of a near post shot but was unable to get back across and was beaten by an effort that flew in centrally.
“In these kinds of games you have to grab your chances with both hands and voila, the goalkeeper expected me to choose the other corner, so the ball went in,” said the scorer.
Belgium suffered a blow when De Bruyne limped off with an injury three minutes after the break and Santos sought to breathe life into his side’s attack by introducing Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix from the bench.
Ronaldo, cutting in from the right, did well to find Jota in the box but again the forward’s effort was off target as Belgium struggled to contain their opponents.
Belgium’s attempts to counter were increasingly rare and Portugal turned up the heat in the final 10 minutes as they searched desperately for an equaliser.
Courtois punched away a thundering Ruben Dias header from a corner and then Raphael Guerreiro struck the post with a sweet first-time shot from the edge of the box.
Deep in added time, Portugal created one final opportunity but Felix’s drive flashed just wide of Courtois’s right-hand post.
“I didn’t have a lot of work to do in the previous three games, but I knew that wasn’t going to be the case against Portugal,” said Courtois.
“I am proud of my team mates; they defended very well. Italy will be difficult too, but we have proved today that we are ready for it,” he said.
Eden Hazard, who has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, went off with what looked like a hamstring strain three minutes from the end.
Belgium will face Italy, who beat Austria 2-1 on Saturday, in Munich on July 2.
A moment of madness from Matthijs de Ligt that led to a straight red card robbed Netherlands of any chance of making the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, with the loss of their defensive lynchpin leaving their team tactics in tatters.
Under pressure from Patrik Schick, De Ligt slipped and flipped the ball back into his path with his left hand to prevent the Czech striker gaining control of it. But referee Sergey Karasev immediately gave a free kick and a yellow card, which he then upgraded to red after a VAR check.
The loss of De Ligt was immediately felt as the Dutch went from being comfortably in control to being forced onto the back foot by a muscular Czech side that wasn’t afraid to be cynical in bringing attacks to a halt.
Often the deepest-lying of Frank de Boer’s three centre backs, De Ligt is the glue that holds the Dutch defence together and allows wing backs Patrick van Aanholt and Denzel Dumfries to forage far into the opposition half in support of the attack.
The 21-year-old is also key to set pieces for the Dutch both offensively and defensively, and on several occasions in the first half he was targeted with free kicks and corners by Memphis Depay.
His defensive organisational ability was also sorely missed when Antonin Barak fired a free kick to the back post for the Czechs and Tomas Kalas headed it back across the goal for Tomas Holes to head home.
Shorn of De Ligt’s physical presence at both ends, De Boer shifted to a flat back four, requiring Dumfries to prioritise his defensive duties.
Without their athletic wing backs to support him, Memphis Depay was left to battle against Ondrej Celustka and Tomas Kalas alone when strike partner Donyell Malen was replaced by Quincy Promes.
For all their intricate moves in the first half, the attacking play of the Dutch was too easily read, and the Czechs comfortably dealt with their cut-backs into the centre.
De Boer, who came through the Ajax Amsterdam school of “Total Football” inspired by Johan Cruyff, threw on giant striker Wout Weghorst, who at 1.97m posed a different physical challenge.
But it made little difference after the defence leaked another goal to the Czechs, and the Dutch followed De Ligt towards an early exit from a tournament they had expected much more from.
Reuters
