With each passing game, Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence on Euro 2012 grows and one of the planet’s supreme talents hauled his team into the last four with one of the most spellbinding individual performances of the competition so far.
There are those who insist that, for all his remarkable gifts, Ronaldo remains a player who too often fails to bring his best game to the most important international occasions. Much more of this and people will not be saying that again.
On a night when Portugal’s dominance of a weak Czech Republic team was so absolute as to be almost embarrassing, his team-mates’ wastefulness must have irritated Ronaldo beyond belief.
He is, after all, not a young man known for his patience.
Ultimately, however, Ronaldo proved too good, his combination of technical genius and insatiable desire just too much for a Czech side who somehow managed to take this game to within nine minutes of extra time.
Ronaldo had already struck the post twice as normal time neared its conclusion.
Once with an outrageous piece of skill in the first half and again with one of those dipping, swerving toe-end free-kicks that he has made his trademark in recent years.
Great players don’t drop their standards because things don’t go their way, though, and Ronaldo appeared at the far post to score a goal any of the great centre forwards in world football would have been proud of.
Seeing his former Manchester United team-mate Nani free Joao Moutinho down the right, Ronaldo waited until the ensuing cross had arrived before darting past a startled defender to crash a thumping header down into the ground and up into the far corner of Petr Cech’s goal.
It was a goal to light up any occasion and Ronaldo’s subsequent celebration showed just what it meant as he arrived in rampaging style at the corner flag to greet the two players who had created the chance for him.
There will always be those who don’t like Ronaldo, those who have tired of the posturing and the vanity. But to watch him last night was to watch a brilliant young player at work. At times he was irresistible.
On what threatened to be a frustrating night, Portugal needed their captain too.
For all but the opening 10 minutes, Portugal were the better team by some distance.
They dominated possession and territory but once again the absence of a genuine No 9 in their squad threatened to cost them.
There were flickers of opportunity early on and Ronaldo almost scored the opening goal midway through the first half when he was played through by Moutinho only for Cech to save. The Chelsea keeper has not had the best tournament but that was a high-class block from only 12 yards.
The incident served to give Ronaldo a little momentum, though, and it wasn’t long before he was trying an overhead kick from 10 yards and then taking aim with a free-kick from much further out.
Both efforts went wide but in first-half injury time he produced one of the moments of the tournament.
Collecting a chipped Raul Meireles pass on his chest inside the penalty area, Ronaldo flicked the ball over his shoulder with his next touch and turned to smash it first time against the post with his right foot.
It was a sensational bit of skill and all but the Czech supporters inside this magnificent stadium will have wished it had produced a goal.
As time wore on in the second period, it did look as though that might be Portugal’s best chance.
Substitute Hugo Almeida was on for the injured Helder Postiga but both those centre forwards are as feckless as each other and Almeida’s first contribution was to head over from eight yards in the first minute of the second half.
Ronaldo then struck the frame of the goal with his free-kick as the hour mark neared and then watched with growing frustration as Nani had an angled effort deflected wide and Meireles shot over when it looked easier to trouble the goalkeeper.
At the other end of the field, there was nothing but oceans of empty green grass.
The Czechs could hardly get hold of the ball and when they did the absence of the injured Tomas Rosicky meant that they couldn’t do anything worthwhile with it. The Portuguese do not have the best defence in the world but last night they were allowed to look like titans.
Ronaldo and friends will now travel to Donetsk for a semi-final next Wednesday against either Spain or France. They need not be cowed by this. Not with Ronaldo in this mood.
By IAN LADYMAN
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