France advances to the semi-finals! The match with Portugal was decided by penalty kicks, only Félix missed

The expected quarter-final duel between France and Portugal did not offer a goal in normal time, nor in the subsequent extra time. It came down to penalty kicks and the French were the lucky ones to advance to the semi-finals.

On Friday evening we saw an early final between Spain and Germany. The host country was saddened as they fell in extra time and bid an early farewell to the tournament.

An interesting match awaited us in the evening when the teams of Portugal and France competed. The favourites were the paper guests, but it was clear that this was not going to be a multi-goal game, but probably decided by just one.

Fernandes had the first major chance of the game, firing in from distance, but thanks to a run by Saliba, the ball went wide of the target. In the 20th minute, Hernández threatened the Portuguese goalkeeper with a shot, but Costa dealt with the ball.

Three minutes before the end of the first half, Portugal had a promising standard situation and Ronaldo, as expected, got to the ball, but he passed it to Fernandes, who missed the target.

So it was goalless going into the box. Shortly after returning to the pitch, goalkeeper Costa was again on hand to clear Mbappé’s shot. And after an hour of play, we saw the biggest chance of the game so far, the Portuguese had it.

Cancelo sent the ball to Fernandes, who shot to the back post. But the great Maignan was able to knock the ball away and Cancelo’s follow-up attempt missed the target.

And the French goalkeeper was certainly not bored, he sniffed out Vitinha’s attempt shortly afterwards and then dealt with Ronaldo’s attempt as well. France was literally playing for keeps and could be happy that they hadn’t lost yet.

In the 66th minute Kolo Muani recalled the situation from the World Cup final and this time his shot did not reach the goal. However, the goalkeeper was replaced by a defensive player.

In the second half, there was some excellent football and Camavinga had a chance after a rebound, but even in his case we did not see an accurate finish. Five minutes before the end, Ronaldo wanted to be the hero of the moment, but he only hit the wall from another direct kick.

Even at the end of the match the score did not change and it went to extra time again. There was no goal and penalty kicks followed. Félix was not the only one who was accurate and the French were the lucky ones who converted all their attempts.

Source: EURO 2024