HIGHLIGHTS
FINAL SCORE: BEL 1-0 POR
FULL-TIME: That is it! Roberto Martinez's side is through to the quarters, having booted the reigning European champion out of the continental showpiece.
With Belgium all set to travel to Munich to lock horns with Italy on Saturday (IST), one can only wonder whether this was Cristiano Ronaldo's last Euro...
90 + 4' Thorgan Hazard walks out. Leander Dendoncker is the new man in.
90 + 3' Portugal pouncing and probing. Meunier wins the ball from a charging Oliveira on the left.
90 + 1' Bruno goes for it from the distance again and falters. His body language reveals volumes about the tournament he is having, thus far.
90' Five minutes have been added, ladies and gentlemen. Can Belgium hold on?
87' Yannick Carrasco replaces Eden Hazard. The Belgium captain, by the looks of it, may have pulled a muscle.
84' Lukaku's free-kick from 22 yards goes sailing over the bar.
83' Guerreiro finds the post now! A half-volley onto the far post. Portugal is slamming hard on the doors now.
82' Bruno's corner is headed straight into Courtois' throat by Dias but the keeper was quick to punch it away. That was arguably the closest Portugal came to scoring tonight.
79' Ronaldo goes down. He appeals to having been pulled back by Alderweireld. The referee doesn't bat an eye. Wouldn't have been a penalty anyway as he went down just at the edge of the D.
78' Danilo, Sergio Oliveira IN. Palhinho, Sanches OUT.
77' Sparks fly! Yellow card for Pepe as he clatters into Thorgan Hazard moments after a stray boot catches Lukaku on the back of his head.
75' Andre Silva had pulled back around the back post as Ronaldo tried to find him at the end of his cross. Courtois is quick to intercept.
74' Ronaldo hammers it straight into the wall. As things stand, Belgium is set to travel to Munich and meet Italy in the quarterfinal on July 3 (IST).
72' Poor challenge by Vermaelen as Felix takes a hit. Free-kick from 30 yards out with Ronaldo standing over it.
70' Another substitution for Fernando Santos' boys as Andre Silva walks in to replace Jota.
68' Bruno Fernandes is all over Eden Hazard, as the Manchester United mainman clips the latter's ankle before he hits the deck. The referee doesn't call foul.
67' Guerreiro fires a cross in but Vermaelen heads it safely away.
63' Lukaku's first shot of the night has sailed over the crossbar after Thorgan Hazard plays the ball in from the wings.
62' Bruno Fernandes tries his luck but ends up slicing into outer space from distance.
61' Sanches' floater from the left flank has been headed into Courtois' mitts by Felix.
57' Ronaldo does a one-two with Dalot and dribbles past a platoon before working a grounded pass to Jota, who misfires. A little lower and this would have gone on to beat Courtois by miles.
55' Twin changes for Portugal: Joao Felix comes on for Joao Moutinho. Bruno Fernandes replaces Bernardo Silva.
54' Ronaldo collects one on the bounce and goes for the trigger from a long range. Vermaelen blocks.
50' Dalot has been booked for pulling Eden Hazard back, while the Belgium skipper was on the charge. The Red Devils have a free-kick.
47' De Bruyne, who was waving towards the bench after the Palhinha foul in the first-half, is now down on his haunches. There is a brief stoppage in play and a change is imminent. Dries Mertens has been brought on.
45' Felix Brych's whistle gets things underway in Seville. No changes at the break.
HALF-TIME: Most of the first 45 minutes involved cautious gameplay from either of the sides. But is all of that set to change in the second-half after Thorgan Hazard's screamer in the dying minutes of the initial half? We will find out shortly.
45 + 2' De Bruyne will be okay to carry on in the final few moments of the first half.
45' Yellow card! Palhinha goes into the ref's book for bringing down De Bruyne. The Manchester City playmaker needs some medical attention. This is bad news for the Belgian fans. A minute has been added on.
42' WHAT. A. THUNDEROUS. GOAL. Rui Patricio has been caught unaware as Thorgan Hazard gets on the scoresheet in style! Meunier picks up a loose ball and passes it to Thorgan, who gets two quick touches before unleashing a belter into the far corner.
39' Dalot volleys wide from 15 yards. Never would have mattered as the flag goes up.
37' A Portugal free-kick is cleared and Belgium is running away with the ball. Lukaku leads the charge but seems like there was some shirt-pulling at the edge of the area. No free-kick has been awarded though, as the referee may have had his view obstructed.
35' Portugal giving Belgium a taste of its own medicine as it strokes the ball around in its own half. No urgency whatsoever. The possession trends have also switched hands - 53-47 in the defending champion's favour.
33' Witsel and Tielemans tackle Ronaldo, who has lacked the spark tonight, except for the wonderful free-kick a few minutes ago. The Portuguese appeal but the referee would have none of it.
29' Things look pretty cagey after Belgium's early dominance. None of the teams are looking to commit much behind an attack; slow and safe are the words.
25' Courtois makes a mind-boggling save, diving to his right! A clean strike from Ronaldo as the ball swerves and dips as it goes past the Belgian wall.
24' Jota stabs the ball past Vermaelen, who gets a hand on it before losing balance. Portugal has been awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Can he become the highest goal-scorer in men's international football tonight?
22' Cristiano Ronaldo runs into Meunier and goes down, holding his face. Gets up and going in seconds.
20' Diogo Dalot blocks Thorgan Hazard's shot 20 yards out from the left.
18' Witsel and Moutinho take a fall, coming together near the edge of the Belgium box. However, looks like they are good to go.
15' Portugal finally wins the ball as Pepe threads a pass to Jota on the left. However, the offside flag has been raised.
14' Belgium continues to control proceedings, pinning Portugal back in its area. The side, playing in its teal, striped kit tonight, will be looking to inflict damage on the counter.
10' Eden Hazard combines with Lukaku for a nice one-two at the edge of the box, before the Real Madrid man swings over the bar and into the stands.
9' Meunier overcooks a delivery as the ball sails over Lukaku's head in the box.
6' A superb chance goes abegging for Ronaldo and Co! Sanches lays the ball craftily onto the path of an onrushing Jota. The Liverpool forward finds himself in open space, but ends up dragging his shot way wide off the target.
4' Cristiano Ronaldo gets his first touch of the night. He is engaged in a battle for the ball on the right but ends up getting dispossessed as the star striker takes a tumble.
3' Quite the harmless football early on as the Red Devils continue to enjoy most of the possession.
1' Kickoff! Belgium gets the ball rolling from left to right after the teams take a knee.
12:25 AM IST: Time for the national anthems... Portugal up first.
12:24 AM IST: The teams saunter out of the tunnel led by the match officials.
TEAM NEWS AND LINEUPS
Joao Palhinha is all set to make his full international debut for Portugal . The 25-year-old replaced Danilo at half-time during the side's last Group F game against France. In other news, Bruno Fernandes sits this fixture out on the bench as well. Diogo Dalot replaces Nelson Semedo at right-back.
Meantime, Belgium has introduced quite a few changes from its last group-stage outing against Finland. Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Meunier, Youri Tielemans and Thorgan Hazard are starting in place of Dedryck Boyata, Jason Denayer, Nacer Chadli, Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku.
Belgium:Courtois; Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, T Hazard; De Bruyne, E Hazard (c); Lukaku
Subs: Mignolet, Sels, Boyata, Carrasco, Mertens, Denayer, Dendoncker, Benteke, Batshuayi, Trossard, Doku, Praet
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Guerreiro; Joao Palhinha; Joao Moutinho, Renato Sanches; Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo (c), Diogo Jota
Subs: Lopes, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Fonte, Andre Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Danilo, Ruben Neves, Pedro Goncalves, Joao Felix, Sergio Oliveira, Nuno Mendes
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
PREDICTED XI
Belgium: Courtois; Vertonghen, Denayer, Alderweireld; Thorgan, Witsel, de Bruyne, Meunier; Eden, Lukaku, Carrasco
Portugal : Rui Patricio; Guerreiro, Pepe, Dias, Semedo; Sanches, Danilo, Bruno; Andre, Ronaldo, Bernardo
RECENT FORM
Belgium: W-W-W-W-D
Portugal : D-L-W-W-D
MATCH PREVIEW
Top-ranked Belgium and its golden generation faces an early reckoning at the European Championship against determined holder Portugal, which clawed its way into the last 16 to set up the potential match of the round on Sunday.
The contrast in progress could not have been greater with Belgium masterfully overcoming adversity to win all its group games, while a pugnacious Portugal saw its fortunes ebb and flow before it finished third in its section after holding world champion France to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.
An extra day of rest was Belgium's reward for topping Group B, having seen the talismanic trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Axel Witsel all return from injury after it looked as if the heart of the team had been torn out on the eve of the tournament, threatening to scupper its strong chances.
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The influence of the trio was clearly displayed when they came on after a torrid first half in Belgium’s second group outing against Denmark, neutralising the emotion-fueled host and turning a half-time deficit into a 2-1 win in Copenhagen.
That allowed Roberto Martinez to rest players in the 2-0 win over Finland on Monday in a textbook tournament scenario.
But whether it turns out to be the ideal recipe for success in the knockout phase remains to be seen. It could be counter-argued that Portugal is better prepared, having had to scrap against the likes of Germany, which beat it 4-2, and France.
Simpler formula
Portugal coach Fernando Santos offered a simpler formula. “These matches are all like finals now and if you don't play well, you don’t win,” he told reporters.
“In league competitions you can play badly and still win but here at this tournament, at this stage if you don’t play well, you’ll lose... every time.”
Portugal has its own talisman in Cristiano Ronaldo, who needs one more goal to become the all-time top scorer in international football.
“He is in the form of his life,” said Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld, “but as a team we can stop him. That has always been our strength. But they will be difficult, they are a real tournament team,” he added.
The juxtaposition between the match-winning capabilities of Ronaldo and Belgium’s own prolific marksman Romelu Lukaku adds intrigue to the game at La Cartuja stadium.
With 63 goals for his country, Lukaku, who is eight years younger than Ronaldo, might one day challenge the Portugal captain’s record.
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