Journalism of Courage
Portugal sealed their place in the semi-finals of Euro 2016 after a 5-3 win in penalties over Poland. The two teams were locked 1-1 after 90 minutes and then extra time. Portugal next take on the winner of Wales and Belgium. The Iberian nation has now reached five semis in nine major tournaments since 2000, a record bettered only by Germany. (Source: Reuters)
It took Poland all of two minutes to break the deadlock when Robert Lewandowski broke his drought to score his first goal of the tournament and 35th overall. The tall striker latched on to a low Grosicki cross to side foot it past Rui Patricio. The goal becomes the quickest of the tournament and second quickest overall. (Source: Reuters)
In the 33rd minute, after threatening for a few minutes already, Portugal equalised courtesy Renato Sanches. The new Bayern Munich signing and a much lauded youngster announced himself on the world stage with a thundering strike that took a wicked deflection to beat Fabianski in goal. Sanches took a shot from distance after a pass from Nani to beat the Poland keeper in the corner of the goal. (Source: Reuters)
With no goals forthcoming in the remainder of the regular playing time and extra time, the game headed to penalties. After both teams put the ball into the back of the net to make it 4-3, Jakub Blaszczykowski's penalty was saved by Rui Patricio to give Portugal the advantage. (Source: Reuters)
Getting the nerve wrecking task of being the fifth penalty taker can be a daunting one for some. But that some is not Ricardo Quaresma who thundered his spot kick into the roof of the net despite Fabianski getting a bit of a hand to it. Quaresma had scored the winner against Croatia too. Incredibly, Portugal are yet to post a win in 90 minutes but have made their way into the semi-finals. This is also the only time a team has won two penalty shoot outs in a row. (Source: Reuters)
