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Rediff.com  » Sports » Euro 2016: Captain Ronaldo produces another disappointing show

Euro 2016: Captain Ronaldo produces another disappointing show

July 01, 2016 11:07 IST
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Portugal'S Cristiano Ronaldo is challenged by Poland'S Michal Pazdan in the penalty area during their Euro 2016 quarter final match between Poland and Portugal at Stade Velodrome on June 30, 2016 in Marseille, France

IMAGE: Portugal'S Cristiano Ronaldo is challenged by Poland'S Michal Pazdan in the penalty area during their Euro 2016 quarter final match between Poland and Portugal at Stade Velodrome on June 30, 2016 in Marseille, France. Photograph: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Portugal entered the Euro 2016 quarter-final after defeating Poland 5-3 on penalties in Marseille on Thursday.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo, teen sensation Renato Sanches, Joao Moutinho and Nani all scored before Ricardo Quaresma shot the winner to put the former champions into the semis.

The night clearly belonged to Sanches who marshalled the midfield and himself scored the equaliser after Robert Lewandowski put the Poles in front just after two minutes of play.

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18-year-old Sanches did well to overshadow the Galactico in Ronaldo, who was once again not himself and is likely to face more criticism.

It was another disappointing performance from the captain as he wasted a free kick with a hopelessly ambitious attempt on goal from 40 metres before seeing three chances go begging.

He wasted a free kick and two embarrassing miskicks when he had chances to grab a winner.

After breaking clear down the left, he fired into the side-netting instead of squaring across goal, then missed the ball completely when he tried to hook in Joao Moutinho's clever dinked pass, and again failed to make contact with an inviting Eliseu ball across the face of the goal.

At least, he was prepared to stand up and be counted during the shootout.

In the semi-final shootout against Spain four years ago, Ronaldo was criticised for waiting until the last penalty, by which time his side had already lost 4-2.

This time, he strode forward to take the first one, fired the ball emphatically into the net and set his team on their way to a fourth semi-final appearance in their last five European Championship tournaments.

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