Shropshire Star

Euro 2016: Wales bow out in 2-0 defeat to Portugal

Wales' dream of Euro 2016 glory is over after bowing out 2-0 to Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.

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Arriving at their first major tournament in 58 years more in hope than expectation, the country ranked 117th in the world less than five years ago made history en route to the semi-final.

There is to be no shot at a fairytale ending in Sunday's Stade de France finale, but Wales return home as heroes after being edged out 2-0 in Lyon.

World champions Germany or hosts France now await Portugal in just their second-ever major tournament final, having belatedly secured their first win of the tournament inside 90 minutes.

Andy King and James Collins were brought into the Wales starting line-up against a Portugal side robbed of key defender Pepe through injury.

The Leicester midfielder and West Ham defender replaced the suspended Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies.

Real Madrid defender Pepe failed to overcome a thigh complaint so was replaced by Bruno Alves, while Raphael Guerreiro and Danilo also came into the Portuguese line-up.

The match got under way to quite the backdrop, with Land of My Fathers belted out with force and emotion at the Stade de Lyon.

Wales transferred that passion on to the field and started far more solidly than they did against Belgium in the quarter-final.

Ronaldo was, unsurprisingly, at the heart of Portugal's early attacks and bemused not to win a free-kick after an early Ashley Williams challenge.

Referee Jonas Eriksson did reach for his cards soon after as Joe Allen clipped Nani, before Ronaldo punched the deck in frustration having felt impeded in the box by Collins.

The Wales defender was fortunate not to be pulled up for his over-zealous marking job on the Real Madrid attacker, with Joao Mario striking across the face of goal as Portugal looked to strike the first blow.

Wales had yet to create an opportunity of note but Gareth Bale was beginning to prove a handful for Portugal's patched-up defence. Jose Fonte did well to prevent the forward hitting a cross to its intended target, but the defence switched off from the resulting corner as he peeled away to meet a cutback.

An off-balance Bale failed to hit the target and there was a similar feeling of relief within the Portuguese ranks when his low cross just evaded King, with the Leicester midfielder closed out from a Hal Robson-Kanu cross shortly after.

In between those chances came a moment of inspiration from star turn Bale. Collecting the ball inside his own half, an incredible turn of pace saw him burst down the right, before eventually cutting inside and getting away a fizzing shot that Rui Patricio saved.

Adrien Silva hit a wayward shot at the other end but the match was becoming much tighter as half-time approached, with neither side committing too many men forwards.

Neither manager made a change at the break but it took just five minutes for the match to spark into life – albeit not in the way Wales wanted.

The returning Guerreiro swung in a lovely cross from a short corner on the left and Ronaldo leapt high above James Chester, directing home a tremendous bullet header.

Wild celebrations in the stands on the pitch were a mixture of joy and relief, with the delirious scenes ratcheting up several notches three minutes later.

Few were surprised to see Ronaldo try his luck when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box, but Nani's outstretched leg caught Wales out as the ball went past Wayne Hennessey.

It was a sucker punch that left Coleman's men facing a huge task, leading the Welsh manager to bring on Sam Vokes, Simon Church and Jonathan Williams in quick succession.

However, Ronaldo was inches away from putting the game to bed in the midst of those alterations, with a stunning, dipping free-kick from 25 yards.

Mario directed just wide after Hennessey spilled a deflected Nani effort as Portugal continued to threaten, with Vokes missing the target as Wales tried to reduce the deficit.

Chester was next to try and fail to threaten Patricio's goal, while at the other end Hennessey needed to stand firm to keep a Fonte header out.

Bale forced a panicked Patricio into action with a swerving effort from distance as the Real Madrid attacker led the charge.

At the other end Hennessey recovered to stop the ball trickling over the line having let a Danilo shot slip through, while Ronaldo turned into the side-netting on the break.

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