The Euro cup has been so far a mouth-watering contest
between 24 of Europe’s best teams. Earlier this competition was played between
16 teams but this year the numbers saw an increase. France are the hosts of the
2016 Euro Championships and they have hosted the competition in style. All the
matches have been competitive as we have seen both dominant performances and
upsets. We have seen underdogs knocking out big names and also big names
routing the smaller nations. After two fierce rounds of football the 8
countries who could make it to the quarters were France, Germany, Iceland,
Portugal, Wales, Poland, Italy and Belgium.
The first quarterfinal saw Poland and Portugal locking
horns. The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of merciless football and it all
went down to spot kicks. Poland are quite well known for their abilities from
spot kicks whereas Portugal’s main man had already missed one in the group
stages. But football is an uncertain and cruel game. Ronaldo took the first
penalty for his country and scored. So did Lewandowski for Poland. But in the
end it was Portugal’s Ricardo Quaresma who scored the winning penalty for
Portugal taking then to the semis. Wales faced off against an in form Belgian
side in the second quarter final. Belgium drew first blood through Radja Nainggolan
who hit the target from outside the D-box. But Wales’s captain Ashley Williams
scored the equalizer for wales and they later added two more to their total to
edge past Belgium 3-1. This was one of the most shocking results of the Euros.
Italy has been impressive throughout the tournament as Italy
and Chelsea’s new boss Antonio Conte produced a master class in the round of 16
to knock out holders Spain. Conte is known for his fierce defensive tactics and
he exactly did the same against Germany in the quarters. The match went to
penalties and both Italy and Germany seemed awful from the penalty spot. It was
really a horror show from the spot. 6 of the first 10 penalties were not
scored. But finally Germany’s Jonas Hector took Germany to the semis after
Darmian’s shot was saved by Manuel Neuer. In the last match of the quarters
France routed Iceland as they scored 5 past the underdogs. France looked
unstoppable and showed no mercy to their opponents. Iceland bowed out of the
Euros after an impressive show of their own which included the knocking out of
England. So the 4 teams who advanced to the semis were Portugal, Wales, Germany
and France.
Wales were considered firm favourites to head to the finals
as Portugal were yet to win a match in 90 minutes in the 2016 Euros. But things
don’t always happen as we think and Portugal emerged victorious 2-0 over Wales.
Portugal's talisman Ronaldo scored and assisted in the game which is a big boost
for them. Germany faces France in the most awaited match in the Euros so far in
the second semi Final. It would be quite interesting to see who makes it to the
final against Portugal.
Author’s
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