Ronaldo: We are 50-50 to reach final

Portugal has an even chance of reaching the Euro 2012 final after a dominant second-half performance against the Czech Republic on Thursday eased it into the last four, forward Cristiano Ronaldo said.

"We had a lot of opportunities. The Czechs did not have any - that's a great game," he said as he received the man of the match award after scoring the game's only goal on 79 minutes and hitting the post twice.

"I think the chances (of reaching the final) are 50-50 and we just have to believe in them."

But Coach Paulo Bento said it was his side's collective ability to control the game in defense and attack that made the difference.

And that despite a tame opening to the game.

"We didn't start very well in attack. We weren't very efficient when we were in possession of the ball in the first part of the game." he said.

"Then we dominated more. We controlled the game in a different way, we were playing quicker and then in the second half we showed great quality.

"We dominated the game throughout and it is very important that when you dominate the game you're efficient in attack as well as defense.

"We showed this at various times in the second half. The extra day of recovery that the Czech Republic had (since the group stages) wasn't so apparent in this second half.

"We simply played better."

Next up Portugal will face defending and world champion Spain or France, and Bento claimed he has no preference as to who it plays.

"Our aim will be to beat Spain or France, there can't be any other goal for us and this is what we will try to do."

Although midfielders Raul Meireles and Joao Moutinho played well and Nani showed occasional sparks of his undoubted talent, it was still the Ronaldo show.

He hit the post twice, scored the winning goal and was a constant threat after a generally poor opening 25 minutes.

"Ronaldo played according to our tactical system, he has the capacity to play in the penalty area but also a little bit deeper," said Bento.

"The first 20 - 25 minutes in the first half were a lot more intense, but at the same time we showed a great capacity to react to the Czechs and that's why we really deserved this result."

Although Ronaldo's stole the limelight, he paid tribute to his teammates.

"We had a lot of chances while the Czechs didn't have a single one," he said.

"We had great unity on the pitch and that's why we've reached our goal. I'd like to congratuate the whole team."

While Portugal dominated from the moment they settled, the Czechs were a huge disappointment.

Their coach, Michal Bilek, had said before the game they would be more defensive to try to combat Ronaldo but they took that strategy to extreme measures and never even looked like they wanted to try to win the game.

"Their strategy was no surprise, we had seen it (before) and analyzed it," said Bento.

"We'd prepared ourselves in the best possible way for that strategy and to play against players of this kind."

Note:

Czech striker Baros ends international career

Striker Milan Baros ended his international career after the Czech Republic was eliminated, Czech team spokesman Jaroslav Kolar said on Friday. "He only said it to the guys in the locker room, I can't quote him.

"The other players and the coach reacted with a big applause that lasted about five minutes. It was pretty long and it was pretty emotional."

Reuters and AFP in Warsaw