Warsaw: Portugal became the first team to book a spot in the Euro 2012 semifinals on Thursday by beating the Czech Republic 1-0 in the quarterfinals thanks to a late goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s third goal of the tournament came in the 79th minute after he had struck the right post twice earlier in front of 55,590 spectators at National Stadium in Warsaw. Portugal, the 2004 finalists, advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time following 1984, 2000 and 2004. The Portuguese will next face the winners of holders Spain and France on Wednesday in Donetsk, Ukraine. “We hit the posts a lot, but took our opportunity. I remember in the last game I hit the post twice too, but the most important thing is I managed to score this time, we won and are in the semifinals,” said Ronaldo after his third goal in his last two matches. “We have a great team and squad and the chances are 50-50 and we just have to believe in it (reaching the final).” Portugal coach Paulo Bento was impressed with his team’s quality and consistency. “The last 20 minutes of the first half we played at a very high level, then the second half was great. We could always react and had great speed to attack. It was a high rhythm in the game. The speed of the game was always very high,” said the coach. Regarding Ronaldo’s great run, Nani said: “He scored the big goals in the last two games. But he has a team behind him and that’s why he has so many chances.” The Czechs were hoping to reach the semis for the third time following 1996 -- when they lost in the final after beating Portugal in the quarter -- and 2004. “We knew this was going to be a difficult match because Portugal have a great attack. In the second half we were losing our strength and energy and one situation was enough to decide the game,” 
Portuguese fans celebrate at the end of the Euro 2012 football championships quarter-final match. AFP PIC“
said Czech coach Michal Bilek. It was a great success that we went to the quarterfinals in first place. After the disappointing first match against Russia we were able to raise our heads high.” While Portugal were unchanged from their 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, Bilek made one change to his line-up with Valdimir Darida taking over from Daniel Kolar in the role of the injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky, still dealing with an Achilles issue. Under a closed roof at Warsaw’s National Stadium, Portugal needed time to get going. Ronaldo was finally dangerous in the 25th minute, running onto a through ball from Fabio Coentrao and testing Czech keeper Petr Cech, who passed the test. And Ronaldo missed chances in the 32nd and 35th minutes as well. Ronaldo couldn’t have gotten any closer in the first half injury time, chesting down the ball, turning and hammering a strike off the near right post. Substitute Hugo Almeida was in great position to give the Portuguese the lead but headed over the crossbar Raul Meireles’ cross from the right side just 18 seconds after the re-start. Ronaldo’s string of bad luck continued in the 49th minute as his free kick from about 25 yards hit the outside of the far right post. It was the sixth time Portugal have hit the framework in the tournament -- a new record. Portugal finally found the back of the net but Almeida was ruled offside in the 58th minute. It was Nani’s turn in the 74th minute as his shot just barely went over the bar. Ronaldo finally found the back of the net in the 79th, flying into Moutinho’s cross and delivering a header which bounced off the ground and past Cech -- sending the Portgual fans, including greats Eusebio and Luis Figo into wild celebrations. The Czechs were never able to create much of an attack with just two shots in the entire 90 minutes, neither of them on target. Source: ABP News
