Cristiano Ronaldo stood rooted to the spot at the final whistle, his gaze fixed on the turf, a portrait of disbelief. For a man accustomed to shaping football’s grandest stages, this was an evening to forget — or perhaps to haunt him. The world’s most expensive footballer had squandered two golden opportunities that threatened to become the night’s defining moments. It was only the late intervention of Silvestre Varela, driving home a cathartic winner three minutes from time, that spared his captain the weight of considerable ignominy and rescued Portugal’s fragile hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals.
It was a conclusion as dramatic as the contest itself — a
pulsating affair that left Denmark cursing their inability to preserve parity
after hauling themselves back from a two-goal deficit. Morten Olsen’s side wove
intricate patterns across the pitch, completing 200 more passes than Portugal,
yet their artistry was repeatedly undermined by defensive frailty. It was this
vulnerability that Portugal finally exploited for a third, decisive time.
The decisive blow was as much a consequence of Danish
hesitation as of Portuguese resolve. Fábio Coentrão, probing down the left,
delivered a teasing cross that found Simon Poulsen slow to confront Varela. The
Porto winger, moments after botching an attempted shot with his left, swung his
right boot with venom, dispatching the ball beyond Stephan Andersen and
plunging Denmark into despair. Remarkably, even then Denmark had a lifeline —
Lasse Schöne, ghosting into space on the right, might have salvaged a point,
but his hurried finish soared high and wide.
Ronaldo, curiously subdued, remained to applaud the Portugal
faithful, a stark contrast to his hasty exit after the Germany defeat. Yet
applause did little to mask the uncomfortable truth: this had been a chastening
night for the 27-year-old. Wearing the captain’s armband seemed a burden rather
than a privilege. His two glaring misses were compounded by frequent haranguing
of teammates — his first rebuke came inside two minutes — and capped by a
petulant booking in stoppage time, emblematic of his frustration. For all his
brilliance at Real Madrid, in the colours of Portugal he cuts a strangely
diminished figure: 21 tournament appearances, a mere five goals.
Nicklas Bendtner, by contrast, could only rue his
misfortune. Too often derided for failing to deliver on grand stages, here he
silenced doubters with a performance of substance and menace. Marking his 50th
cap, Bendtner struck twice — his 19th and 20th international goals — and was
unlucky to finish on the losing side. No team knows his threat better than
Portugal: six goals in five appearances make Bendtner their perennial scourge.
Denmark’s early control hinted at a different outcome. They
dictated the opening exchanges but unravelled after 10 minutes, undone by the
clinical efficiency of a Portuguese set-piece. João Moutinho’s curling corner
invited Pepe’s perfectly timed surge; the defender shed Daniel Agger’s
attentions and buried his header inside the post.
Twelve minutes later, Danish defending again betrayed them.
Poulsen’s limp header from Coentrão’s deep cross fell kindly to João Pereira,
whose pass released Nani on the right. The Manchester United winger, with time
and space, shaped a low ball into the danger zone, where Helder Postiga —
frequently the target of Ronaldo’s ire — stole in front of Simon Kjaer to lash
high into the net. In so doing, he joined an elite band: only the sixth player
to score in three European Championships. A curious accolade for a striker many
remember chiefly for floundering at Tottenham.
Portugal seemed to be coasting, but Bendtner’s header in the
41st minute shifted the narrative. Jakob Poulsen, an early replacement for the
injured Niki Zimling, curled a cross to the back post where Michael Krohn-Dehli
nodded it across goal. Bendtner arrived on cue, steering it past Rui Patrício
to ignite Danish hopes.
Then came the first of Ronaldo’s calamities. Released by
Postiga’s cunning dummy from Nani’s diagonal pass, he bore down on goal with
terrifying inevitability — only for Andersen to thwart him bravely. If that was
startling, what followed defied belief. In the 78th minute, Nani again carved
Denmark open, sending Ronaldo clear with only the goalkeeper to beat. Yet the
finish was grotesquely awry, slicing harmlessly wide, met by a chorus of
whistles from Ukrainian neutrals relishing his discomfort.
Punishment seemed inevitable. Two minutes later, Eriksen’s
deft cross picked out Bendtner at the far post. Pepe, caught ball-watching,
could only watch as the Dane powered home his header. Denmark rejoiced;
Ronaldo, face set with grim urgency, sprinted to retrieve the ball.
The final twist arrived courtesy of Varela. Having spurned a
late chance against Germany, he seized this one emphatically, lashing home
through a thicket of defenders to spark Portuguese jubilation. In a game of
fragile leads and shifting moods, it was the last, decisive stroke.
For Portugal, qualification remained alive. For Denmark, a
rueful postscript of what might have been. And for Ronaldo — brilliant, flawed,
incandescent — another chapter in a curious tale of international near-misses,
where the burden of genius so often seems to weigh too heavily.
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