Wales 1 Northern Ireland 0
Croatia 0 Portugal 1
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Against Croatia, Cristiano Ronaldo looked like a waxwork.
Does he have beauty treatments three times a day?
For weeks now he’s looked like an injured superstar, a phenomenally powerful old gladiator who just walks about, almost like Zlatan, who’s three years older.
Cristiano’s been on the pitch but not really there.
Gareth Bale, knowing he was carrying the hopes of his small nation, moved around a lot for Wales. His mobility and strength occupied Irish defenders on both flanks and all over the pitch.
Late in that closely-fought game, Bale was left in a few yards of space because he had stood still, and then he delivered. The big samurai wasted no time playing a killer pass across the six-yard box, a ball West Brom centreback Gareth McAuley had to go for.
That cruelly decisive own-goal was made by a Gareth and scored by a Gareth.
As expected, it was Bale who made the difference.
That goal put Wales into the quarter-finals.
Euro 2016 is their first major tournament since 1958.
And we’re in the last eight, boyo!
You were bored by the Croatia-Portugal game?
Most people were.
Strangely, that snoozeathon happened to suit my mood.
I actually enjoyed watching two skilful teams cancelling each other out. The detail of it was interesting.
In previous Group games I’d noted that when 18-year old Renato Sanches came on, they didn’t pass to him at all. I was furious about that, since the team needed his confidence, his dribbling, his fearlessness. But Nani, Quaresma and Ronaldo all passed to each other, not to the kid, the junior, the new boy, the lad with no experience.
Their contempt and selfishness angered me beyond belief.
I was thinking, “The manager has to give them an almighty bollocking!”
This time Sanches replaced 22-year old Valencia midfielder Andre Gomes in 50 minutes and the chunky, dreadlocked teenager woke the game up, gave Portugal the momentum they’d lacked..
This time the older generation did pass to him.
After the stalemate continued into extra time, Ivan Perisic was still attacking on the left, Portugal won the ball in their right back area, and Ronaldo got it and began chugging down the flank towards the halfway line, passed swiftly infield to Renato Sanches in the centre circle, and the kid chose to go left to Nani, who poked an ingenious probing ball forward across the penalty area because he knew Ronaldo was savvy enough to stay onside.
Ronaldo’s sidefoot shot hit keeper Subotic on the right knee, and when the ball bounced up invitingly, Ricardo Quaresma nodded home from one yard.
The peripatetic winger had at last enjoyed a huge national moment.
He’d scored Portugal’s biggest goal for years. And saved his teammates, and the rest of us, from a penalty shoot-out.