Euro 2016: Portugal slips by Croatia with extra-time goal
Wales, Poland also advance to quarter-finals
Substitute Ricardo Quaresma scored in the 117th minute to help Portugal beat Croatia 1-0 on Saturday and advance to the European Championship quarter-finals.
Portugal settled a poor game with its only serious attack, when Cristiano Ronaldo's one shot all match was parried by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic across the goal in the second half of extra time. Quaresma stooped to head the ball into an unguarded net from close range.
Portugal had broken away in a rare fast attack after Croatia forward Ivan Perisic struck the post with a shot.
Portugal will play Poland in the quarter-finals on Thursday in Marseille. It is clearly in the weaker half of the bracket, avoiding Spain, Italy, Germany and France until the final on July 10.
Somehow, Portugal and 31-year-old Ronaldo have a chance to win an elusive first title after three draws in the group stage and looking incapable of scoring in a cautious, mistake-filled match in the last 16.
Neither side aimed a shot or header on target until extra time, and the match only sparked into life in the closing minutes.
Two technically gifted teams, which were among the best attacking forces at Euro 2016, disappointed in the 90 minutes. It ended with whistles from the crowd.
Portugal showed more attacking intent after a spoiling first half when 18-year-old Renato Sanches came on as a 50th-minute substitute. Sanches had a clear chance in the 57th but pulled his right-footed shot well wide.
Neither side aimed a shot or header on target before extra time, and there was not any attempt on goal until 24 minutes passed.
For once, Croatia's red-and-white checkerboard shirts were more suited to a chess match than soccer.
Creative midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic were closely marked and their rhythm broken up by Portugal's willingness to foul.
Ronaldo saw little of the ball. His most decisive acts in the 90 minutes were two clearances in his own penalty area.
Still, after being so prolific in the group stage — Ronaldo's 32 goal attempts had been more than eight team totals, including Italy's — his first attempt in Lens helped Portugal into the last eight.
Poland 0 (5), Switzerland 0 (4), penalty kicks
Poland became the first team to advance to the quarter-finals of the European Championship after it converted all its penalties to beat Switzerland 5-4 in a shootout.
Following a 1-1 draw Saturday at the Geoffroy Guichard stadium in the southeastern city of Saint-Etienne, Poland's Grzegorz Krychowiak stepped up to score the winning penalty.
Poland converted all five of its spot kicks. The only person to miss was Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka who fired his kick wide of the left hand post.
Jakub Blaszczykowski gave Poland the lead in the 39th minute with a low shot that went between the legs of Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer. It was his second goal of the tournament.
Switzerland equalized with a spectacular 82nd minute bicycle kick from Xherdan Shaqiri to send the match into extra time. Allowed far too much space on the edge of the area, Shaqiri jumped with his back to the net before firing a left-footed shot inside the post.
In extra time, Switzerland had perhaps the best chance to score and avoid a shootout when substitute Eren Derdiyok came close in the 113th, but his header was knocked wide by Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Poland will play Portugal in the quarter-finals on Thursday in Marseille.
Wales 1, Northern Ireland 0
Gareth Bale was the creator of the only goal — an own-goal — to put Wales into the quarters with a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.
Bale's cross was aimed at teammate Hal Robson-Kanu but it was inadvertently tipped into the net by Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley in the 75th minute.
"We knew it was going to be an ugly match. Obviously no disrespect to Ireland, but they make it difficult to play [against]," Bale said. "We knew up top we weren't going to get a lot of the ball. There's not much space."
The only goal threat by the Welsh before the slightly fortuitous breakthrough came from a free kick from Bale. For much of the game, Northern Ireland successfully nullified the world's most expensive player and the tournament's co-leading scorer with three goals.
"They are really organized," said Bale, who danced with his daughter on the field after the win. "We had to be patient. They were probably the better team today. We had to hang in there and show a lot of courage."
Wales will next play either Hungary or Belgium in the quarter-finals in Lille on Friday. It will be the first time Wales will contest a quarterfinal match since the 1958 World Cup, its last appearance at a major tournament.