The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 17
Oooh it is getting real. Quarter-finals time! Portugal faced Poland today, with both sides competing to be the first into the last four. Maybe the best in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, obviously started for Nike and Portugal. From best in the world we go to the other end of the spectrum, with a little side note. Roy Hodgson, has finally left his position as England manager, just in case you needed cheering up today.
Back to real footballers though. This game started quickly, and disappointment Robert Lewandowski gave Poland a perfect start. He collected a pass inside the area and finished nicely into the corner. Just after the half-hour mark, Renato Sanches equalised for Portugal. His shot from the edge of the box was deflected and Lukasz Fabianski could do nothing about the effort.
After the break, Ronaldo missed a great chance when Nani played him in, but his shot went just wide. Alves Cedric had a long-range shot shortly after but it went just wide also. The game lacked intensity as neither team created many significant chances, and it ended 1-1.
Extra-time was again rather pointless and produced zero entertainment, so it was penalties time! Poland saw off opponents in the last 16, Switzerland via a penalty shootout. All of their five penalties were executed to perfection.
The two big boys of the game converted theirs, with both Lewandowski and Ronaldo taking first for their teams. Hot prospect for the future, Sanches showed composure by putting his kick into the top left corner. Poland’s Arkadiusz Milik made it 2-2 with a confident pen into the bottom left.
Joao Moutinho, Kamil Glik and Nani all dispatched their penalties well, making it 4-4 with one each left to take.
Jakub Blaszczykowski then stepped up for Poland and unleashed a powerful shot to the right corner. Rui Patricio, however, pulled off an incredible save to deny them from taking the lead.
Then, up stepped veteran Ricardo Quaresma, who has so far been the most successful substitute at Euro 2016. He kept cool to blast it into the roof of the net and give Portugal a 5-4 win in the shootout.
Ronaldo gets a point for the spot-kick and a point for a good performance. He will lead his side into the semi-finals where they will play the winners of the Wales v Belgium match.
Adidas
No points
Nike
Ronaldo +2
Overall score
Adidas 25-10 Nike
Tomorrow’s Euro 2016 match
Wales v Belgium
Players involved in battle
Adidas: Vermaelen, Bale
Nike: De Bruyne
So, Ronaldo helps to slightly diminish the deficit for Nike. However, they still trail Adidas by 13 points. Portugal progressing ensures that Ronaldo will play at least one more match for them, thus could score some more points, but he will need to put a shift in if Nike are going to win this battle.
Tomorrow will prove to be interesting, with players from both sides appearing. A loss for Belgium would result in Nike losing a valuable asset in de Bruyne, whereas a Welsh loss would mean Adidas’ star Bale would be going home.
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Adidas vs Nike
The UEFA Euro 2016 is finally here. All of those long and, very much at times, boring qualifiers have led to this point. Viva La France! And we’re covering all of the juicy goals, epic wins and of course all of the fabulous football boots on display at the 2016 Euros. So why read our coverage of the Euros? Well apart from the fact that it will guarantee to be hugely different to any other co...[Read More]