EURO 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo led defending champions Portugal lose out to Belgium in Round of 16

EURO 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo led defending champions Portugal lose out to Belgium in Round of 16

Belgium qualify for the quarter finals

Belgium have secured their place in the quarter finals of EURO 2020 with a 1-0 win over Portugal at the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville. This could have marked Portugal talisman and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s final appearance in the Euros.

Ronaldo will leave the tournament as the leading goal scorer of EURO 2020 so far with 5 goals and also the top goal-scorer overall in the history of the EUROs with 14 goals to his name. However, he could not score today for Portugal as Thorgan Hazard’s first half strike was enough for the Red Devils to seal the victory.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s final EURO Cup appearance ended in a defeat

A disappointed Cristiano Ronaldo after the defeat
A disappointed Cristiano Ronaldo after the defeat

Thorgan Hazard scored from a vicious strike from outside the box, and the amount of swerve and curl the ball had beat Rui Patricio in goal for Portugal. Up until the goal, the match was evenly poised with both teams enjoying large stretches of possession.

FS Video

However, Portugal dominated in the second half after going down to 1-0 in the first half but never found the final end product to level the score at the end of 90 minutes. Needing an equaliser, coach Fernando Santos threw in all of his attacking options in the form of Bruno, Felix, Andre Silva and Oliviera but neither could provide that additional edge to score a goal.

The defending champions however, did come very close to scoring on two occasions as Rafael Guerrero’s half-volleyed shot sturck the outside of the post and Ruben Dias’ header was saved expertly by Courtois.

Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo after the end of the match
Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo after the end of the match

During the course of the match, they might have lost their two best stars in Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard to injury both of whom were replaced. Roberto Martinez will fret on the fitness of these two stars and hope for a quick recovery ahead of the quarter finals.

All in all, Belgium managed the game well in the final stages and saw out the match coming out with the all important victory to set up a clash against Italy in the quarter finals of EURO 2020.

Also Read: Euro 2020 Netherlands vs Czech Republic Player Ratings