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Shooting stars

MARSEILLE: Portugal beat Poland 5-3 via a penalty shoot-out to reach the semi-finals of the European football championships after the two sides were deadlocked at 1-1 after the extra time here.

Shooting stars

Portugal’s defender Pepe, Fonte and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate after winning the quarterfinal against Poland. AFP



Marseille, July 1

Portugal beat Poland 5-3 via a penalty shoot-out to reach the semi-finals of the European football championships after the two sides were deadlocked at 1-1 after the extra time here.

During the penalty kicks on Friday, Poland won the coin toss, but opted to let Portugal shoot first. Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to step into the box and made no mistake by sending the keeper the wrong way.

The sides were even through three kicks and Nani delivered the fourth for Portugal before Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio stopped star midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski to put his side ahead 4-3. Ricardo Quaresma then converted to make it 5-3.

Next up for Portugal will be the winner of Friday's quarterfinal between host nation France and dark horse Wales. Portugal have become the first team to reach a European Championship semifinals without winning a game in 90 minutes. They collected three draws from group stage and eliminated Slovakia with a last minute goal from Quaresma in the extra time in the round of 16.

This is the fifth time Portugal have reached the semifinals in their seven appearances. At the start of the match, the Poles took a 1-0 lead in the second minute as Kamil Grosicki broke free down the left side and delivered a cross to Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski, who fired the ball into the net for his first goal of the tournament.

Falling behind early rattled Portugal, whose first shot on goal came shortly before the half-hour mark, a weak effort from Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo that created no problems for Poland keeper Lukasz Fabianski. But of instead of moving in for the kill, the Polish squad retreated to wait for a chance on the counter-attack or a random deep ball to Lewandowski.

Portugal gradually worked their way back into the match. Three minutes after the referee failed to call Poland's Michal Pazdan for a foul on Ronaldo, the teenage Renato Sanches equalised for Portugal in the 33rd minute.

Sanchez, who will be joining Lewandowski at Bayern in August after being snapped with a fee of 35 million euros, beat Fabianski with help from a deflection after taking a fine pass from Nani.

The pace slowed considerably in the second half and both sides went into safety-mode in the closing minutes of regulation.

Nani and Poland's Arkadiusz Milik had chances in the first overtime, but the most exciting moment of the second overtime was when a fan rushed onto the pitch and tried to embrace Portuguese captain Ronaldo. After which the penalty shootout followed and as did Portugal's win.

"Penalties are a lottery but you have to show a lot of character," Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. "I knew that Poland were great at spot-kicks because they won on penalties in the last round but I told my players to stay calm because I knew they would score.

He added: "Poland started really well but I had a strategy with William Carvalho, Renato Sanches and Adrien Silva closing their players down. "We let them take over the game for a bit and we weren't able to control Milik, so I spoke to Renato Sanches to change things and asked Nani to drop a bit deeper." — Agencies

TONIGHT: Live on Sony Six, Sony ESPN   00.30 AM  Germany vs Italy 

Quick  passes

Scots teasing England by buying Iceland shirts

Iceland’s kit suppliers have revealed that they are struggling to meet the demand of shirt sales generated by the nation’s fantastic run of results at Euro 2016 after a surge in purchases — in Scotland. Football fans north of the border are obviously delighted with England’s elimination from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland – ranked 34th in the Fifa world rankings — after Monday’s shock 2-1 defeat brought an end to Roy Hodgson’s reign as manager. And to rub salt into the open wounds of English fans, Scots have rushed to kit themselves out in Iceland merchandise in order to remind their arch rivals of the embarrassing loss in France. Iceland kit suppliers Errea confirmed that they are struggling to keep up with orders coming in from Scotland as well as other areas in Europe ahead of the quarterfinal encounter. 

Del Bosque steps down as Spain manager

Spain football manager Vicente del Bosque has confirmed he is stepping down from the post just three days after his side’s last 16 exit. Although Spain’s elimination is expected to be the reason behind Del Bosque’s decision, he claimed to have already prepared his mind not to continue as the team’s manager much before the tournament . “Without a doubt, I have no intention to remain as coach, but you have to be discreet. No matter what the result of the Euros, I had no doubt about what my future would be,” the 65-year-old  said.

Iceland captain Gunnarsson returns 

Iceland have a clean bill of health with captain and long-throw specialist Aron Gunnarsson returning to training on Friday ahead of their quarterfinal against France on Sunday. Midfielder Gunnarsson sat out of Thursday’s training with a back problem.”He (Gunnarsson) has a little bit of pain coming from his back...and according to the medical team, he shouldn’t do anything yesterday,” Iceland joint-coach Lars Lagerback said. Lagerback is prepared for a feisty encounter with France, and has been focusing his training on tactics rather than physical work to make sure all his players are fit.

Agent slams Lineker over overrated pOGBA comments

Paul Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola has said his client’s market price is way lower compared to the Frenchman’s qualities, which was basically a response to comments made by former English footballer Gary Lineker. Lineker said Pogba’s market value is overrated, and thus, Raiola said: “When someone is paid to talk about something, that doesn’t mean he knows what he is talking about. Lineker is one of those. Considering the qualities Paul has and the prices I see around Europe, I think Paul is underrated. How much is he worth? The maximum amount a club is prepared to pay for him.”— Agencies

Clash of the titans: Germany vs Italy 

8 Meetings at World Cups and European championships before the 2016 quarterfinal clash between two teams. Italy boast a record of four wins and four draws against Germany. The two first met in a goalless draw at the 1962 World Cup. Italian wins since then have included the 1982 World Cup final, and a dramatic 2-0 extra-time win in the semis of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Bogey team 

}A bogey team can exist only in your mind. Now there is the question of how many players have experienced that. Then it’s important how to deal with it. You have to consider that Germany won the World Cup and they have mastered all challenges on the way, which means you get a lot of confidence. People often think what happened in the past will happen in future again. But every game is a new game. So it depends on how you deal with it as a player and as a team. — Werner Mickler, sports psychologist with German football association

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