Fans agog as football’s star trio book a spot in last-eight

CRISTIANO Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski got through to the Euro 2016 quarterfinals, and that is all that Portugal, Wales and Poland care about.

Ricardo Quaresma’s header after skipper Ronaldo’s shot was deflected with extra time running out, saw Portugal defeat Croatia 1-0 at Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens on Saturday and set up a last-eight clash against Poland.

Bayern Munich star, Lewandowski, again failed to score, but his team, Poland, beat Switzerland 5-4 in a penalty shootout after they were deadlocked 1-1 after extra-time .

Wales’s Bale hit the 75th-minute pinpoint cross that Northern Ireland’s Gareth McAuley turned into his own net, in the only goal of their game on Saturday at Parc des Princes stadium.

Wales will play the winner of yesterday’s game between Hungary and Belgium.

Bale, the tournament’s joint leading scorer with Alvaro Morata, of Spain, on three goals, was brutally honest after the game in Paris. It does not matter how you win.

Northern Ireland closed down Bale for so long, but Wales managed to reach the last-eight of a major tournament for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.

“Northern Ireland made it difficult to play. There was not much space up front. You can’t ask for any more. It’s incredible,” Bale said. Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said his team deserved more after keeping Bale in check for so long.

“I felt it was a very tight game and I felt we had the better of it to be honest,” O’Neill said. “It was very, very cruel to lose the game. I didn’t think we deserved to lose.”

In Lens, a Croatia team – led by another Real Madrid star Luka Modric -- that has played some of the most attractive football of the finals, failed to find a way past the Portuguese defence.

Ronaldo was muzzled for the vast majority of a dull encounter, that became the first match in Euro history in which neither team managed a shot on target during the regulation 90 minutes.

Portugal eventually snatched their first victory of the tournament at the death, as Quaresma was perfectly positioned to head in after Ronaldo’s low shot was parried away by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

With Lewandowski drawing another Euro blank at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffrey Guichard, Jakub Blaszczykowski scored the crucial opening goal for Poland, after Switzerland drew level in style through Xherdan Shaqiri’s spectacular scissors-kick. The match went to a penalty shootout but Arsenal-bound Granit Xhaka’s wild and wide spot-kick cost the Swiss dearly.

The Poles went a perfect five from five from the spot.

“I’m delighted, it was a historic moment for us, because we are in the top eight in Europe,” Blaszczykowski said.

Poland coach Adam Nawalka was delighted with the result but said his team must improve their finishing.

Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic was another who felt his side had lost despite dominating. “Penalties are like roulette,” he moaned.