Euro 2020 Round of 16, Knockout Stages - Belgium vs Portugal 1-0

 Billed as one of the mouth watering, exciting clashes of this knockout round, the game lived upto its expectations, as both teams put in their heart & soul in a slugfest football, that at times became ugly but endearing. Eventually, current world No1 Belgium pipped the defending Champions Portugal 1-0, to move into the quarterfinals. 

Despite heavyweights like Lukaku, De Bruyne, Hazard brothers, Meunier in the forward line, Belgium were caught defending in the early parts of the game, as Portugal came up with all cylinders firing. Diogo Jota had the first look at the Belgian goal, as his left footed shot went wide from the edge of the box, after a superb pass from the tireless Renato Sanches, who snatched the ball mid park & powered into the opposition D. Midway into the 1st half, Ronaldo got a free kick just outside the box & his right footed piledriver was superbly parried away by the Belgian keeper Courtois & a rebound header by Palhinha was too weak to cause any damage. It was only around the 37th minute that Belgium had a real crack at the Portugal goal, when Meunier exchanged a one-two-one with De Bruyne & shot hard, but the ball sailed over the goalpost. Minutes later, in a brilliant combination in the Portugal half, the every dangerous & bulging Lukaku controlled & passed to De Bruyne, who found stiff resistance & moved the ball to the left flank, as Thorgan Hazard deftly controlled the ball, turned inside & conjured a ferocious right footed strike that swerved past the outstretched hands of the Portugal keeper Rui Patricio, who looked surprised & wrong footed & ended in the right hand corner of the net. The Red Devils had broken the deadlock to go up 1-0. It was one of the best goals of this tournament till date, as the Belgian supporters erupted in joy. 

2nd half  started with a huge worry for Belgium, as De Bruyne limped off early to be substituted by Mertens, as the Portugal brought in Joao Felix to strengthen the attack in search of an equaliser. Renato Sanches worked tirelessly in the midfield, pouncing & wriggling past Belgian players, creating opportunities for his forwards, as Belgian goal scrambled, & fought tenaciously to thwart attacks - Courtois conjuring some splendid, reflex saves, to frustrate Ronaldo & Co time & again. The game continued, mostly in the Belgian half, as Ronaldo, Felix, Dias, Guerreiro, Fernandes, et all tried their best, but could not get past the towering Courtois under the bar & the defending champions crashed out of Euro 2020. The last 20 minutes of the game was breathlessly a slugfest, at times getting heated amongst rival players, as Portugal threw everything forward for a well deserved equaliser, while, the Belgians defended grittily. This was Belgium's 1st win against Portugal since 1989 !!, as an exhausted Ronaldo looked forlorn & crestfallen. Having equaled Ali Daei's 109 goals in International football earlier in the tournament, CR7's dream of going past remained unfulfilled here - we hope to see him in the upcoming World Cup in 2022 at Qatar, though this would seem his last appearance for the Euros. 

Belgium sail into the quarterfinals where they will take on the might of the Azzure Blue Italy - what a fabulous encounter to look forward to ahead. However, injury scare to key playmakers, De Bruyne & Eden Hazard today, might be a huge worry for them ahead.