Portugal reach Euro 2016 semi-finals with win over Poland on penalties

Portugal defender Pepe (left), Fonte (centre) and striker Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate beating Poland in the quarter-final. (Photo: AFP)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal battled their way to a place in the European Championship semifinals on Thursday winning a penalty shootout 5-3 against Poland in a tense quarterfinal.

Portugal have reached the last four without winning a single game within 90 minutes. This was their fourth semi in the last five European Championships.

Poland had started strongly, with Robert Lewandowski scoring his first goal of Euro 2016 inside two minutes in the Marseille clash before 18-year-old Renato Sanches, his new teammate at Bayern Munich, equalised with a powerfully driven shot. The game then went through extra-time deadlocked at 1-1.

Goalkeeper Rui Patricio and Ricardo Quaresma were Portugal’s heroes in the shootout.

Ronaldo was among the players fist-pumping when Patricio dived to his left to save Jakub Blaszczykowski’s tame fourth shot for the Poles. Quaresma was next up for Portugal and made no mistake firing high into the net.

Poland made a blistering start to the game. After barely 100 seconds, Kamil Grosicki hurried past Southampton right-back Cedric Soares to deliver a reat cross that Lewandowski drove past a flailing Rui Patricio at his near post.

German referee Felix Brych waved away Ronaldo’s claims for a penalty on 31 minutes despite replays suggesting the Real Madrid star was bundled over by centre-back Michal Pazdan as he went to meet a cross.

Sanches made amends for Portugal less than two minutes later with a stunning leveller. The midfielder collected Nani’s cutback from the right side of the area and hit a fierce shot that deflected off Grzegorz Krychowiak and beat Fabianski at his near post.