WARSAW - Portugal have an even chance of reaching the Euro 2012 final after a dominant second-half performance against the Czech Republic on June 21 eased them into the last four, forward Cristiano Ronaldo said.
“We had a lot of opportunities. The Czechs did not have any
– that’s a great game,” he told a news conference as he received
the man of the match award after scoring the game’s only goal on
79 minutes and hitting the post twice.
“I think the chances (of reaching the final) are 50-50 and
we just have to believe in it.”
Coach Paulo Bento said his team rose to the occasion in the
second half and do not mind whether they face France or Spain,
who play on June 23, in the first semi-final in Donetsk on June 27.
“I wanted the players to show what they did in the last 20
minutes of the first half in the second. I knew that if we could
do that we would create a lot of chances,” Bento told reporters.
“The semi-finals at a great tournament like this have great,
very organised teams. It doesn’t matter who will be our
opponent, be it France or Spain. We will do the best to reach
our goal.”
