Ronaldo came alive in the second half to score and set up a goal for former Manchester United team-mate Nani to send Portugal into the finals of the European Championships in France at the expense of Gareth Bale’s Wales.
Portugal waited for a long time to record their first victory within 90 minutes in the tournament and it couldn’t have come at a better time. In a match that was being touted as a showdown between Real Madrid heavyweights Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, the latter emerged triumphant with a match winning display in the second half.
After playing out a goalless first half in which Wales looked the more threatening side, there was one small moment of excitement. A mini footrace between the Real Madrid wingers.
Portugal came out in the second half and immediately hit the ground running. 5 minutes after the restart, Portugal won a corner which was passed to Raphael Guerreiro, who put in a superb cross into the box and the Portuguese leaped into the air to score a bullet header before landing to the ground after what seemed like ages.
Wales barely had any time to recover, before former Manchester United player Nani piled on more misery on the Welsh and doubled Portugal’s lead. On 53 minutes, Ronaldo received the ball at the edge of the area. He struck the ball awkwardly and his low hard shot came directly in the path of an ever grateful Nani to tap in an easy goal.
