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How Renato Sanches Gave Portugal a Glimpse of the Present and Future vs. Poland
Published: July 1, 2016
Now into the semi-finals in France, Fernando Santos’ team have yet to win a match in 90 minutes at the tournament. They have drawn with Iceland, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and now Poland before, in the latter two cases, getting the job done later on.
If that’s the plan, then it’s working. But as they reached a fourth European Championship semi-final in the last five tournaments—a record they haven’t received enough credit for—it was impossible not to think of the future and what this tournament grounding would do for the man of the moment in Marseille.
Teenage midfielder Renato Sanches—finally given his first start in a major tournament by Santos—ensured there was a youthful energy about Portugal that wasn’t there before. In the short term, it bodes well for Wednesday’s semi-final, and in the long term, it hints at more semi-finals to come.
Having already signed up to play for Bayern Munich next season, the 18-year-old is having the time of his young life out in France, and what he brought to the Portugal side against a spirited and obdurate Poland can’t be overstated.
As a brooding Cristiano Ronaldo was marshalled by Polish centre-backs Michal Pazdan and Kamil Glik—is there an argument to start him out wide in the semi, perhaps?—and both Nani and Joao Mario were subdued, the cut and thrust of this Portuguese performance had to come from elsewhere.
Step forward Sanches, who seemed more than happy to take the responsibility on his shoulders.
But that’s the great thing about young players: They're rarely inhibited by the situation and surroundings they're in. Sanches was playing in a European Championship quarter-final, but to him, it was just another game—just another chance t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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