UEFA Euro 2016: Poland, Wales and Portugal sail through to the quaters

Croatia could only wonder how they had managed to fold so badly in what should have been another winnable game afterwards.

Goal scored by Ricardo Quaresma in the 117th minute of the match played in Lens raised a question: is there a Portuguese curse that is hanging over the Croatian team?

But those chances were also Croatia’s downfall. Nani’s mishit shot reached Ronaldo who was denied by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and the rebound fell for Ricardo Quaresma to head in.

It really wasn’t, as they saw much of the ball and were always edging closer to making something happen despite both sides having no shots on target for 90 minutes.

He’s now at Turkish club Fenerbahce and reportedly the subject of interest from Inter Milan and Liverpool, among others. In the 116th minute Darijo Srna charged down the wing and put in a cross which was met Perisic. Playmakers Rakitic and Modric were scrapping for possession, and winger Ivan Perisic, who had been a potent weapon with his driving runs, only impressed with his hairstyle. We had a great chance for the tournament.

Marcelo Brozovic should have done better when he blazed over from a quickly taken corner. Four minutes later, Luka Modric wastefully blasted over the crossbar from distance.

Poland will play either Croatia or Portugal in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Marseille. Take a look at some of the best reactions from the night. All that I do is defend this jersey because it means a lot to me. The Portuguese forward tried to be clever and shoulder a decent cross into the net when he should have just headed it. The follow through from Strinic’s challenge left him floored.

Croatia nearly snatched an equalizer at the death but Domagoj Vida hooked the ball agonizingly wide.

Granit Xhaka’s penalty miss was costly, with the Switzerland midfielder shanking his effort horribly wide of the post to give Poland the chance to edge in front.

“Last chance of this generation?”

-Quaresma scored the first goal in extra time at the Euros since Andrey Arshavin in 2008 (v Netherlands). Once again, Vida’s head went into his jersey.

Patricio saved his country seconds later when he turned Ivan Perisic’s header onto the post. Cristiano Ronaldo only shot once on goal which led to the goal by Quaresma at the 117′. “We were able to switch from defence to attack and we took back control”.

Portugal relied on one, late, moment of class to grab their first victory at Euro 2016 and move into the last eight with a 1-0 win over Croatia, despite failing to hit the target for nearly two hours and struggling to build any cohesive attacks.

Wales have reached the quarter-final stage of a major competition for the first time since the 1958 World Cup, when a 17-year-old Brazilian striker by the name of Pele scored the only goal of the game to knock them out.