Dushanbe, 01.07.2016. /NIAT “Khovar”/. The Portuguese national football team advanced to the semifinals of Euro 2016 after edging the Polish team 5-3 on penalties (1-1 main time) on Thursday night in French Marseille, TASS reports.
It was Poland to stun Portugal in the dawn of the match at the 67,000-seat capacity Stade Velodrome with Robert Lewandowksi scoring a goal in the second minute of the game making it the fastest scored goal of the tournament so far.
Over half an hour later Portugal found its way round the solid Polish defense and Renato Sanchez netted the ball into the Polish goal to tie the score at 1-1.
The 1-1 draw remained unchanged not only until both teams retreated for the break quarter an hour later but throughout the second half as well as in the additional 30 minutes of the match.
During the penalty shootout seven attempts were executed (4-3), but it was Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio, who dived to the left saving his team’s goal from Poland’s fourth penalty delivered by Poland’s Jakub Bіaszczykowski.
Portugal’s Ricardo Quaresma used the chance and cannoned the ball into the Polish net sealing the final score in penalties at 5-3.
The Portuguese squad will clash next week for the place in the final match with the winner of the Wales-Belgium match, to be held in Lille on Saturday night.
The Euro 2016 is held in France between June 10 and July 10 with matches played in 10 different locations, namely in Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.
A total of 24 European national teams qualified for the Euro Cup final tournament in 2016, after the contestants’ format, which was used since 1996, was decided to be extended from 16 to 24 teams.