Final, 1-1 (Portugal wins 5-3 on penalty kicks): Portugal is partying in Marseille after defeating Poland in a battle of nerves and will.
The game burst open with quality and tension only to sputter in the second half and flatline during extra time. Lewandowski and Sanches followed their first-half goals with performances that grew increasingly nondescript, as the game progressed. Ronaldo struggled throughout. Their teams followed suit, and the game deteriorated.
However, history and experience proved to be enough to guide Portugal through the tortuously tense extra-time periods and the shootout. Patricio’s save on Blaszczykowski’s spot-kick was pivotal.
Portugal will play either Belgium or Wales on July 6 in the semifinals. Poland will return home to face its regrets over what might it might have been able to accomplish in France.
That’s all for now, and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion coming up on NESN.com/soccer.
Postgame analysis of Poland-Portugal >>
Penalty-Kick Shootout: And Quaresma converts, giving Portugal a 5-3 win in the shootout.
Quaresma can win it for Portugal.
Patricio saves Blaszczykowski’s shot. Portugal leads 4-3.
Blaszczykowski must score for Poland to keep pace with Portugal.
Nani scores to keep the pressure on Poland.
Up comes Nani for Portugal.
Glik responds for Poland. It’s 3-3 after three rounds.
Moutinho scores for Portugal.
Milik scores. It’s tied 2-2 after two rounds.
Milik steps up next for Poland.
Sanches scores.
Sanches shoots second for Portugal.
Lewandowski scores.
Lewandowski will shoot first for Poland.
Ronaldo scores.
Portugal will shoot first, and Ronaldo grabs the ball to start things off.
End of extra time, 1-1: Penalty kicks it is.
120th minute, 1-1: Lukasz Piszczek shoots wide. This one is a few seconds away from penalty kicks.
116th minute, 1-1: With penalty kicks looming, Poland should have mixed feelings about its chances of winning in the lottery, er, shootout.
109th minute, 1-1: A fan runs onto the field looking to greet Ronaldo. A posse of stewards tackle him.
The fan failed, but his effort was the most remarkable moment the game has produced in some time.
106th minute, 1-1: The second period of extra time is under way.
105th minute, 1-1: That’s the end of the first period of extra time.
The last hour has failed to live up the standard the teams set in the first half.
103rd minute, 1-1: Nani shoots powerfully from distance, but it flies straight to Fabianski.
100th minute, 1-1: Milik misses with a long-range shot.
98th minute, 1-1: Nani heads a shot wide, as Portugal continues to struggle with shooting accuracy.
98th minute, 1-1: Poland makes another substitution. Tomasz Jodlowiec enters. Krzysztof Mączynski exits.
96th minute, 1-1: Portugal makes its final substitution. Danilo replaces Carvalho. They play the same position, but Danilo is a better passer than Carvalho.
92nd minute, 1-1: Ronaldo has another chance but he fails to make contact on a promising delivery.
91st minute, 1-1: The first half of extra time is under way.
End of normal time 1-1: That’s the end of the second half.
The teams will play two, 15-minute periods of extra time. If no winner has emerged by then, penalty kicks will determine Euro 2016’s first semifinalist.
If the teams aren’t tired now, they certainly will be after another half hour of the tensest soccer one can imagine.
90th minute +3, 1-1: Lewandowski heads Jakub Blaszczykowski’s free kick straight to Patricio.
90th minute +2, 1-1: Carvalho receives a yellow card for pulling back Grzegorz Krychowiak. Carvalho will be suspended for the semifinal.
90th minute, 1-1: There will be three minutes of added time in the second half.
88th minute, 1-1: The referee shows Kapustka a yellow card for a mistimed tackle on Nani.
86th minute, 1-1: Moutinho floats a pass over the top of Poland’s defense. Ronaldo beats the offside trap but whiffs on his shot from just 12 yards out. Ronaldo’s nightmare quarterfinal continues.
82nd minute, 1-1: Grosicki departs, and Bartosz Kapustka replaces him, as Poland makes its first substitution.
81st minute, 1-1: Jedrzejczyk slides to intercept Pepe’s through ball and deflects it toward goal. Fabianksi might not have had it covered at the far post.
Ironically, it’s either team’s best effort in the second half.
80th minute, 1-1: Mario exits. Veteran winger Ricardo Quaresma replaces him in Portugal’s second substitution.
79th minute, 1-1: Fonte heads Mario’s corner kick on goal, but it flies straight into Fabianski’s waiting hands.
77th minute, 1-1: The teams are struggling to carve openings in the opposing defense, partly due to commitment to preventing goals and to a lack of a quality final ball on both sides.
73rd minute, 1-1: Joao Moutinho replaces Adrian Silva in Portugal’s first substitution. Portugal’s midfield could re-shape, with Moutinho playing more of an attacking role than Silva did.
69th minute, 1-1: Milik volleys a cross on goal, but it’s not powerful enough to beat Patricio.
64th minute, 1-1: Cedric shoots powerfully at the top corner but misses by a couple of feet.
60th minute, 1-1: Nani and Ronaldo combine inside Poland’s penalty area, but defenders block a pair of shots from Adrien and Joao Mario before clearing the danger.
56th minute, 1-1: Ronaldo misses the target from a tight angle, drawing boos and whistles from the crowd.
It’s almost as if Ronaldo is trying too hard, instead of letting his game come naturally. Then again, why not stick with what has worked so far?
54th minute, 1-1: Poland has done a good job of seizing control of proceedings in the opening phase of this half, as was the case in the first period. If Poland can hold onto the initiate longer than before and finish the chances it creates, there’s no reason it shouldn’t win this game. However, those are two big “ifs.”
49th minute, 1-1: Lewandowski heads a shot on goal, but it’s too weak to trouble Patricio.
46th minute, 1-1: The second half of Poland-Portugal is underway.
Halftime, 1-1: That’s the end of a pulsating first half. It’s tied in Marseille.
Many expected Poland-Portugal to be a tale of two superstars. The first half offered something of the sort.
Lewandowski signaled Poland’s intent to overrun Portugal out of the gate by scoring such an early goal. Whether he struck two or 20 minutes into the game, it seemed like it would always come, as Poland was that much better than Portugal in the opening stage.
Portugal eventually grew into the contest, and Sanches assumed responsibility of drawing his team back onto level terms with a fine strike in the 37th minute.
We assumed Ronaldo would do the honors, but Portugal’s 31-year-old superstar captain hasn’t made an impact on the game. It would be a different story if the referee awarded Ronaldo a penalty kick but he didn’t. Instead, Sanches stole the show.
44th minute, 1-1: Nani shoots weakly on goal. Fabianski saves it.
42nd minute, 1-1: The referee shows Artur Jedrzejczyk a yellow card for a foul on William Carvalho. Jedrzejczyk, Poland’s left back, will be suspended for the semifinals if his team advances.
37th minute, 1-1: Patricio unconvincingly swats a cross out of danger. The Portugal goalkeeper must command his penalty area better than he just did.
33rd minute, 1-1: Sanches scores on a well-struck — albeit deflected — goal.
Sanches’ one-two with Nani created all the space he needed to fire home the game-tying goal.
Sanches is two months shy of his 19th birthday but doesn’t play like it.
30th minute, 1-0 Poland: Ronaldo goes down from contact with defender Michal Pazdan inside Poland’s penalty area, but the referee ignores his appeals for a penalty kick.
28th minute, 1-0 Poland: Ronaldo eyes the goal from 25 yards out but scuffs his shot, allowing Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabiansk to save it easily.
26th minute, 1-0 Poland: Portugal has no problem building play out of the back, but ideas seem to abandon its players once they arrive at Poland’s third.
23rd minute, 1-0 Poland: Grosicki has a good chance to score but the Poland midfielder opts for a cut-back pass instead of shooting from close range. Jose Fonte clears the danger.
Poland is outplaying Portugal by some distance right now.
17th minute, 1-0 Poland: Lewandowski shrugs off a foul, dribbles into Portugal’s penalty area and hits a low shot, but goalkeeper Rui Patricio stops it comfortably at the near post.
15th minute, 1-0 Poland: Arkadiusz Milik shoots wide from 20 yards out, as Poland looks to double its lead via counter-attack.
10th minute, 1-0 Poland: Portugal has controlled possession since it fell behind, but Poland’s stout defense has denied space and time to craft moves in its own third of the field.
Sixth minute, 1-0 Poland: Early goals have been a hallmark of this Poland team.
Second minute, 1-0 Poland: Lewandowski puts Poland in front before most have settled into the game. Kamil Grosicki capitalized on Cederic’s error and provided a dangerous cross for Lewandowski to side-foot home.
It’s Lewandowki’s first goal of the tournament and the second-fastest goal in Euro history.
It’s safe to say, Ronaldo’s not happy with how the game has started.
Kickoff: The Poland vs. Portugal Euro 2016 quarterfinal is under way.
Pregame: The teams are on the field for the pregame handshakes and national anthems.
Portugal hasn’t impressed many at Euro 2016, but its understated form suggests it has a good chance of advancing to the last four.
Defense has carried Poland this far.
Keep an eye out for Portugal’s next big thing.
Sanches will join Bayern Munich from Benfica after Euro 2016.
2:45 p.m.: Here are the starting lineups:
Poland
Portugal
2:30 p.m. ET: Either Poland or Portugal will become the first semifinalist of the 2016 UEFA European Championship. The outcome will represent “business as usual” or “uncharted territory,” depending on the victor.
Poland and Portugal face off Thursday at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France, in the Euro 2016 quarterfinals in a game Portugal coach Fernando Santos calls “50-50,” according to UEFA.com. Poland had never won a European Championship game prior to this year’s tournament, with three losses and three draws at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 combined. Portugal, on the other hand, might as well claim the latter stage of the Euro as a home address.
Poland edged past Switzerland in the Round of 16, beating the Swiss on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in open play.
Portugal topped Croatia 1-0 in extra time after a goal-less 90 minutes. Portugal’s last five Euro games have ended in draws after 90 minutes.
The form of star players Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski could produce that familiar result. Lewandowski has failed to score in all four games Poland has played at Euro 2016.
Ronaldo delivered a record-setting performance in Portugal’s final group stage game but went goal-less in his team’s other three outings.
Poland-Portugal kicks off at 3 p.m. Join us right here for all the action from Marseille.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
