120 minutes of play were not enough to separate Portugal and France. The Portuguese team, already forced to a penalty shootout in the round of 16 against Slovenia, came back to the same place against Les Bleus after two regular periods and two extra times during which the teams gave their all, collecting several scoring opportunities but lacking precision in the final touch, wasting so much. Cristiano Ronaldo, who is playing in his sixth European Championship, scores again from a penalty. The first and decisive error is rather made by his teammate Joao Felix: his shot ends up on the post and proves fatal for Portugal. It ends 5-3 on penalties for France. The semi-final against Spain, winner against Germany, will be played on Tuesday July 9 in Munich.
The game
In the first half, Portugal absorbed the initial explosion of their opponents, then took control of the match and almost scored. First on a mistake by Maignan on a back pass from Saliba, then on a right-footed shot from outside the area by Bruno Fernandes which was deflected and passed in front of the French goalkeeper, going wide. Les Bleus did not sit idly by and created with Theo Hernandez and Mbappé, but Diogo Costa neutralized all the attempts. Leao, playing in a trident with Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo, had a good first half, shining on several occasions but without finding the decisive touch. The second half also played at a good pace, with the proactive teams creating without managing to find the back of the net. The game stopped for a few minutes, after the ball ended up on Mbappé's mask and he was forced to be examined. The clearest opportunity was at the feet of Bruno Fernandes, but Maignan blocked it, as did Vitinha's shot two minutes later. Then it was France's turn: Ruben Dias stopped Kolo Muani's right-footed shot. In the 66th minute Dembélé came on for Griezmann and quickly became dangerous, igniting the French attack. Camavinga was the one who lost the one-on-one with the Portuguese 22, then Dembélé also failed to find the target. The teams gradually faded away and the second half also ended 0-0. As in Stuttgart, where Spain beat Germany, here too in Hamburg the semi-final was played after regulation time. In extra time, Cristiano Ronaldo had taken the lead, but shot high on Francisco Conceiçao's cross after having cleared well at the edge of the penalty area. While in the second overtime it was Joao Félix, who had just entered the field in place of Leao, who had a golden opportunity on his head, wasted on the outside net.
Read also:
