The Back of the Net boys report on Denmark 2-3 Portugal
A late Silvestre Varela goal helped Portugal overcome Denmark in a five-goal thriller on Wednesday night, but star man Cristiano Ronaldo endured another frustrating evening after being outshone by Hélder Postiga for the umpteenth time this week.
Ronaldo missed a series of chances, skewing shot after shot high and wide, overhitting a number of final balls, and twice failing to hit the target when one on one with the Danish keeper. And to make matters worse for the Real Madrid man, he was once again put firmly in the shade by compatriot Hélder Postiga, who troubled DenmarkâÂÂs defence all evening, and scored his sideâÂÂs second with an ice-cool finish after ignoring RonaldoâÂÂs screams for the ball.
It compounded a poor week for the ex-Manchester United star, which has seen PostigaâÂÂs attitude to training compared favourably to RonaldoâÂÂs, RonaldoâÂÂs long-held inter-squad Jenga record bested by Postiga, and a succession of supermodels walk straight past Ronaldo to compliment the former Tottenham forward on his appealingly sensible haircut during a team night out in Lviv.
âÂÂCristiano has always resented Hélder,â a source in the Portugal camp, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FourFourTwo. âÂÂHélderâÂÂs a natural leader, a brilliant conversationalist, and he makes a mean guacamole. Everyone looks up to him, which makes Cristiano insanely jealous.âÂÂ
âÂÂBut when Hélder beat Cristiano in a karaoke sing-off with his rendition of Chris IsaakâÂÂs Wicked Game, that was the final straw. ThatâÂÂs CristianoâÂÂs favourite song. But deep down, he knows he could never compete with HélderâÂÂs impassioned yet sensuous rendering of the 1989 surf-rock classic.âÂÂ
To make matters worse for Ronaldo, Nicklas Bendtner, his longtime rival for the title of âÂÂworldâÂÂs best playerâÂÂ, scored twice for Denmark in a masterful performance, finally proving his long-questioned deadliness from one yard.
âÂÂCristiano was fuming,â the anonymous source added. âÂÂHis late lunge on Daniel Agger was a desperate attempt to finally come first in something, in this case the gameâÂÂs most detestable player award.âÂÂ
âÂÂBut tragically for him, Pepe was on the field too. And Pepe is basically footballâÂÂs Pol Pot.âÂÂ
More match reports from Back of the Net:
GER 2-1 NED: Dutch defence, midfield, attack, kit, language the problem
POL 1-1 RUS: World's top statistician works on group permutations
GRE 1-2 CZE: Samaras's failure to score only reinforces Greek belief in SamarasUKR 2-1 SWE: Fairytale for Shevchenko as he scores twice, kills wolf, rescues princess
FRA 1-1 ENG: Everyone and no-one happy as England and France draw
During the Euros, Back of the Net will tweet live during the match.
Follow the commentary at http://twitter.com/backofthenetFFT
...and FourFourTwo's updates at http://twitter.com/FourFourTwo
