Marseille: Two of Europe’s most prolific marksmen go head-to-head as Robert Lewandowski aims to end Cristiano Ronaldo’s dreams of landing an international trophy when Poland meet Portugal in a quarterfinal clash on Thursday. Ronaldo is just one goal away from even more European championship history by matching French legend Michel Platini’s record mark of nine goals in the finals.
The Real Madrid star has already become the first player to score in four Euros and broken the competition record for appearances. At 31 Ronaldo is unlikely to get a better chance for international glory. Despite a double against Hungary to save Portugal’s blushes to sneak through the group stage in third place, Ronaldo has yet to catch fire in France.
A flat display and post-match rant against Iceland in Portugal’s opener was followed by a missed penalty in a stalemate against Austria. He was also kept quiet for 117 minutes a dull last 16 clash with Croatia, but his only effort on goal led to the breakthrough as Ricardo Quaresma headed home after Danijel Subasic parried Ronaldo’s effort.
Lewandowski is yet to find the net in four games in France, but kept his cool to convert from the spot as Poland progressed to their first major quarterfinal for 34 years with a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Switzerland. Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny admitted he is unlikely to return from the injury he suffered in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland after Lukasz Fabianski’s heroics in goal against the Swiss.
Swansea stopper Fabianski was beaten by a sensational Xherdan Shaqiri bicycle kick as Poland conceded for the first time in the tournament, but produced a string of saves to force the tie to a shootout. Portugal have fitness concerns over Raphael Guerreiro, Andre Gomes and Joao Moutinho, so wonder kid Sanches looks certain to start for the first time in the tournament.
