Portugal 2 - Wales 0: Ronaldo reigns supreme as Coleman's final dreams are shattered

IN THE end, Wales were touched by greatness. Cristiano Ronaldo, inexorably drawn to centre stage and his contribution timed to perfection, will probably consider this the perfect end to the perfect day.

It was his thunderous header shortly after the break which set Portugal en route for the final of Euro 2016 before an assist for Nani sealed their passage into Sunday’s showpiece final and the chance to exorcise the demons of 12 years ago.

In doing so he kept Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale in the shade, and with Lionel Messi sentenced to 21 months for tax fraud, well if Carlsberg did semi-finals….

For Chris Coleman and Wales, all good things must come to end. It will be little consolation today, of course, but in time they will find comfort in the fact it took a phenomenon to shatter their dreams.

Today their pain will still be raw, but what have Wales to regret after an adventure that quickened the pulse? The anguish will come if they do not keep moving forward from here and fail to ensure their sojourn at a major finals becomes the norm.

This was a step into the unknown and yet some things will have felt reassuringly familiar. The spine-tingling rendition of Land Of My Fathers from the Wales supporters which reverberated around the Stade de Lyon was one. An incensed Ronaldo, hands thrown into the air in disgust, was another.

A sense of injustice had festered from the first time he sought to stretch his legs only to be sent sprawling by Ashley Williams, who convinced referee Jonas Eriksson he had won the ball cleanly. 

Then, when Portuguese right-back Cedric whipped over a cross, Ronaldo was irate James Collins was not punished for wrapping an arm around his neck.

There is much about the strutting peacock in Ronaldo on a warm summer’s evening whereas Bale channelled his efforts with more efficiency, jolting his team-mates into life after a slow, occasionally sloppy, start.

He could not quite manage to wrap that laser-like left foot around the ball after Joe Ledley played a clever corner routine to him along the ground before later launching a rapier counter-attack with a 70-yard burst that virtually carried him box-to-box. Danilo and Joao Mario were left trailing in Bale’s slipstream, but the shot at the end of it was straight at Rui Patricio.

It was clear to see why Portugal had led for just 22 minutes in the whole tournament.

Mario’s one-two with Ronaldo resulted in a shot which was dragged across the face of goal in a rare sortie that carried any menace. Ronaldo headed over the crossbar under pressure from James Chester.

Out of possession Portugal were more obdurate opponents than the Belgians, brushed aside by the Welsh in Lille in that giddy quarter-final, had proved and the absence of Aaron Ramsey through suspension removed one of the main weapons in Coleman’s artillery. 

Wales were denied space, gaps did not suddenly magically appear, and they had to think on their feet as to how to muster a way beyond their rivals. If a sliver of the success Andy King, drafted in to replace Ramsey, had tasted at Leicester last season could rub off, it would have been timely. 

When man-of-the-moment Hal Robson-Kanu spun Bruno Alves and delivered a cross from the byline, the midfielder threw himself at the ball but his header hit Jose Fonte and went behind.

It was out of nothing then that Portugal seized the initiative. That it was from a set- piece will irk Coleman

That it was Ronaldo who was not properly picked up will infuriate him. Mario’s short corner was curled over by left-back Raphael Guerreiro and, with one prodigious leap, there was Ronaldo muscling his way above James Chester. His header arrowed into the top corner and carried all the venom of a shot from 30-yards. Crucially, even before Coleman could consider his options, Portugal struck again. Two in three minutes. 

Chester’s clearing header this time landed at the feet of Ronaldo lurking outside the penalty area.

There was only one thing on his mind, but in rather scuffing a speculative shot it veered towards Nani, who having taken up the space between Ashley Williams and James Collins, stuck out his leg and prodded the ball beyond Wayne Hennessey, left.

Had an off-balanced Bruno Alves not smuggled Bale’s clipped pass away from substitute Sam Vokes then a fightback might still have ensued.

As it was, even Ronaldo’s free-kicks were more like their old selves, a 30-yard effort just clearing the crossbar and Hennessey had to smother Danilo’s shot at the second attempt on the line.

The final awaits. It is where he will believe he belongs.