Friday 22 June 2012

Portugal 1-0 Czech Rep

Portugal became the first team through to the Semi-Finals after a 1-0 victory over Czech Rep.

Cristiano Ronaldo got the only goal of the game with a header with ten minutes left.

Portugal were dominant throughout & if Ronaldo had brought his shooting boots they would have won by a few more. The Real Madrid striker had 8 shots on goal & the only one on target was his goal. He did look lively and got himself into some good positions but was wasteful with his chances.

If Portugal meet Spain in the Semi-Final, Ronaldo will have to be a lot more clinical. He won't get 8 chances against Spain so when he does get a chance he'll have to take it.

Other standouts for Portugal were left back, Fabio Coentrao and midfielder, Joao Moutinho. Coentrao seems to save his best form for Portugal. He was a standout in the last World Cup and seems to be carrying that form into this tournament. Moutinho looks increasingly impressive in midfield & seems to be the man pulling all the strings & doing the creative work for Ronaldo & Nani.

Czech Republic go home after giving quite a good account of themselves despite not really having any big stars.

The Czechs were well organised & difficult to break down. They just lacked that little bit of extra quality in the final 3rd.

They have had a few players who will have enhanced their reputations in this tournament. Midfielder, Petr Jiracek has looked superb and managed to get two goals. Vaclav Pilar on the wing also looked good. He is set to join Jiracek at Wolfsburg next season. Right-back, Theodor Gebre Selassie was another star for the Czechs. He was very attacking but was strong in defence when he had to be. It would appear scouts for Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen agree with me as he has joined them today on a four year contract.

The Czechs can now look forward to their World Cup qualifying campaign but for Portugal it's time to rest up and prepare to meet the winners of Spain and France in next Wednesdays Semi-Final.

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