KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo’s smile and swagger were back, and so was his scoring touch.
The Real Madrid forward finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice in a sparkling performance Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Poised to be written off as one of the tournament’s flops, Ronaldo put a miserable two-game goalless run at Euro 2012 behind him.
“Now everything is possible,” said Ronaldo, who went a long way toward silencing the critics who accused him of failing to reproduce the form he showed in a sensational 60-goal club season.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his second goal on Sunday. (AP-Yonhap News)
Ronaldo failed to shine in Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Germany and 3-2 win over Denmark, but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th. He had a half dozen other attempts at goal, including a low drive that clipped the post in the 16th, and he set up two clear chances for teammates.
“Ronaldo got so much criticism in the last game and he is back now,” Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said.
Germany advances LVIV, Ukraine (AP) ― Germany advanced to the European Championship quarterfinals without playing brilliantly. They didn’t have to.
After grinding out its third straight win with a 2-1 victory against Denmark on Sunday, Germany finished on top of a group that didn’t end up being as dangerous as it looked on paper.
World Cup finalist the Netherlands was a major disappointment, losing all three Group B matches. Cristiano Ronaldo found his form just in the nick of time to take Portugal to the quarterfinals as runner-up to Germany.
And Denmark just wasn’t up to the task of repeating its upset from 20 years ago, when it stunned Germany to win the European Championship.