Written by Sam Borden at New York Times.com
The ball soared in front of the goal and Cristiano Ronaldo jumped, his body hanging in the air for what felt like one beat, two beats, three beats, four. His chest was pitched. His back was arched. His eyes were forward, locked on the target.
Then, just as a Slinky hops down a staircase — its coils bending in one direction before whipping forward over the threshold — Ronaldo simply unspooled.
The contact was flawless. A sweetly struck free kick or a long, dipping drive has poetry, but there is nothing quite like the way a ball compresses when it rebounds from a man’s skull. Ronaldo snapped his neck, and the ball, as if it had engines attached, whizzed past the goalkeeper and rippled the net. The Wales defenders, beaten, dropped their heads. Ronaldo, gleaming, took off running.
It was a sumptuous goal on a largely bland evening, but it was the opening that was needed. Portugal, led by Ronaldo, its enigmatic captain, secured a place in the final of the European Championships with a 2-0 victory over Wales on Wednesday at the Stade des Lumieres. The Portuguese will face either France or Germany on Sunday at the Stade de France just outside Paris.
Ronaldo, who tied Michel Platini’s record of nine career goals in the Euros, will now have another chance to deliver a first major tournament trophy to Portugal, 12 years after he and his teammates lost in the final of the 2004 Euros. For Wales and its superstar, Gareth Bale, the loss was an agonizing end to a surprising run that has captivated a nation and beyond.
“The players are gutted,” Wales Manager Chris Coleman said. “It still hurts.”
Even with the sting still fresh, Coleman and his players know this tournament was an incredible success. Wales was playing in its first Euros and its first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup. It had many players on its team who play for second- or third-division club teams. It began the competition in a group with England, Russia and Slovakia but made it to the knockout rounds, where it beat Northern Ireland and then upset Belgium in the quarterfinals to reach the final four.
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