Portugal Cruise Into Semifinal After Penalty Shootouts

Portugal are through to the semifinal stage of the Euro 2016, after defeating Poland 3-5 on penalties. The match which was played at Stade Vélodrome by 8pm, ended in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, the extra time awarded was not even enough to get a winner, leading to penalty shoot-out. Robert Lewandowski put Poland in the lead with an early goal scored in the first two minutes of play, before Portugal equalized through Renato Sanches in the 33rd minutes, making the scoreline to remain at 1-1 before half-time. All efforts made by both teams to increase the scoreline in the second half proved abortive as the scores remained 1-1 at full time. The game which eventually entered extra time yielded no result, leading to a final decision of penalty. Portugal won 5-3 after goalkeeper  Rui Patrício saved the decisive penalty played by Poland’s Jakub Blaszczykowski in the shootout to book a semifinal ticket.