The first quarterfinals of the Euro Cup 2012 could not live up to the billing as it was not that electric with Czech Republic looking to drag the match on to the penalties. The teams also looked to give away possession and both the teams displayed a sloppy game in the first half.

But after the change of ends, Portugal started to look far attacking than in the first half and were pressing hard to score, and eventually got the winner when the Christiano Ronaldo netted in with a superb header.

Now the both teams had some players who performed and some who flopped. Let us have a look at few of them.

Portugal:

Christiano Ronaldo: Cometh the hour, Cometh the Man. The Portuguese talisman continued his good run in the tournament and scored against the Czechs in yesterday’s game. The goal eventually turned out to be the winning goal. And not only the goal, he was a livewire on the field and came agonizingly close to score on two more occasions when his shots hit the woodwork.

Fabio Coentrao: He was for most of the times seen making a run on the left and threaten the defenders. His run on the flank helped Christiano Ronaldo move to the centre which helped the team a great deal. And he was equally good when it came to his defensive duties and the left back was hardly caught off position.

Flops:

Nani: He could not live up to his reputation. That is all that can be said about him. He did make some runs and but then was not intelligent enough to create moves which did affect the team.

Czech Republic:

Petr Cech: He showed that he is one of the best goalkeepers of the World. He was tested on many occasions and Portuguese players made many long range attempts but he denied them every time. And if not for Czechs the score line could have been different.

Michal Kadlec: Kadlec was arguably the best player in the last match. He thwarted moves by Portuguese forwards on many occasions and did make some great clearances. He was like a rock on the left and also did move forward whenever he got a chance.

Flops:

Milan Baros: The headlining flop for Czechs in this tournament, Baros again failed to deliver. Neither did the striker score nor did he ever look to threaten the Portuguese defence.

Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

By Indian Sports News Network