In the clash of the titans, Belgium won, decided by Thorgan Hazard

After the Czech euphoria, the second eight-final match of Sunday’s European Championship programme was played at the stadium in Seville. And it was indeed a battle of heavyweights. The Belgians and the defending champions, the Portuguese, met.

The first interesting chance came just after 5 minutes when Diogo Jota appeared on the edge of the box. But the Liverpool striker sent the ball well wide of Courtois’ left post with his left foot. Then, slowly, the tables began to turn.

Slowly but surely, the Belgians moved into pressure, although the closest they came to threat was Hazard’s shot from about 30 yards out. It was the same distance at the other end in the 22nd minute when Renato Sanches sent in an interesting projectile from that distance.

Even a direct free-kick played by Cristiano Ronaldo did not bring a change in the score, as Courtois went down promptly and had his shot cleared. Both sides then started to play in the last 10 minutes and interesting action started to pile up.

And the 42nd minute brought the first goal. And it certainly wasn’t fun. Thorgan Hazard took the ball on the left of the halfway line and from about 25 yards out, he shot past Portugal’s goalkeeper, Ruia Patricio. At halftime, Belgium led and were 45 minutes away from eliminating the reigning champions.

In the second half, it was clear from the first seconds that the game was very much on. After hints on both sides, the big chance came in the 58th minute when Jota fired in a penalty. His volley ended just over the crossbar of the Belgian goal. After an hour of play, the debutant João Félix also had a chance, but his header had to be saved by Courtois.

The Portuguese chances were getting more and more interesting, but time was running out. When André Silva came on in the 70th minute, the team from the Iberian Peninsula had only one task on the pitch. To equalise. In the 73rd minute came a standard situation 25 yards from goal in the middle of the pitch. But his shot only ended up on the blocking Mertens.

Outside of the football, there was a lot of emotion on the pitch. Felix Brych, as the main referee, let a lot of fights go and it was hard to keep the players at bay. Neither Dias, who was tackled by Courtois, nor Guerreiro, who was stopped by the bar.

Between the 80th and 85th minutes, with a few exceptions, the ball was only in the Portuguese attacking half. The pressure was mounting and the clock was ticking. Centre after centre flew into the box. In the 88th minute, André Silva had a chance, but Courtois saved it on the corner of the penalty area.

Five minutes to go. The Portuguese tried everything possible and impossible to stay in the tournament. Félix’s cross with a minute to go ended just wide of the right post. And when the defending champions’ pressure was subsequently broken by the Belgium coach’s substitutions, the team around Ronaldo could not get any more pressure.

So Belgium won 1-0, and the only shot on target in the match made Thorgan Hazard the star. In the quarter-finals, the Belgians will meet Italy in another thrilling duel.

Source: UEFA Euro 2020