Belgium edges Portugal, reaches quarterfinals at Euro 2020

Seville, Jun 28 (AP):
Belgium stopped Cristiano Ronaldo on one end, and had just enough attacking power on the other.
The top-ranked Belgians held Ronaldo scoreless Sunday and held onto a first-half lead to beat Portugal 1-0 and advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship.
Ronaldo, who threw his captain’s armband to the ground in despair after the final whistle, is still one goal shy of becoming the all-time men’s top scorer in international soccer. He came into the match tied with former Iran striker Ali Daei at 109 goals.
Belgium, which has never before won a major soccer title, will next face Italy on Friday in Munich.
Belgium’s potent attack, led by Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, also struggled, but Thorgan Hazard scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute with a swerving shot from outside the area. Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patr cio was left wrong-footed and was late to swat the ball away.
“In these kinds of games you have to grab your chances with both hands,” Thorgan Hazard said.
“The goalkeeper expected me to choose the other corner, so the ball went in.”
Belgium played most of the second half without De Bruyne, who had to be substituted after being tackled from behind and injuring his left ankle. De Bruyne missed the team’s first game at Euro 2020 while recovering from a facial injury sustained in the Champions League final.
Portugal had several good chances to equalize late in the match, including a header by R ben Dias saved by Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and a shot by Raphael Guerreiro that hit the post.
The Portuguese did most of the attacking in the second half, finishing the match with 24 attempts. Belgium had six in total and scored the only time it hit the target.
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