Euro 2016: Portugal vs Poland - 5 players to watch out for
As we near the business end of Euro 2016, the competition is expectedly heating up. With just 8 teams remaining, there is little room for error. The quarter finals are upon us, the first of which will see Portugal take on Poland at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
The first quarter-final will see 2 teams who have been below par till now. Both Portugal and Poland need to produce their A-game soon, in order to match the other teams in the fray. Here we take a look at five players who will have an impact on the result tonight:
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo:
Quite easily the most recognisable face in the footballing world, Ronaldo had a horrendous start to Euro 2016. Having missed a couple of gilt-edged chances against Iceland in their opening encounter, he fluffed his lines from the penalty spot against Austria.
But just when everyone felt the Portuguese superstar was nowhere near his best in this tournament, he provided a master-class against Hungary to drag Portugal into the round of 16. Ronaldo came up with an assist and 2 goals, one with a sublime back-flick which is the foremost contender for goal of the tournament currently.
When Portugal looked beat, down and out and completely devoid of ideas, the Real Madrid ace inspired his team to rally around him and earn a precious point to see them through to the next round. He was once again, quite subdued against Croatia in the round of 16, which was a very dull affair overall.
When at his best, as he proved against Hungary, Ronaldo is quite simply unstoppable. He can create goals out of nothing with moments of sheer brilliance. However, consistency has been his bane in Euro 20116 till now. Portugal will hope he can produce some moments of individual brilliance tonight, to get them into the semis.