Can they be champions? Portugal's win over Croatia produces many questions

Having previously looked like they could go and win the tournament, it was only when the Croatians tried to finally win this game that they actually lost it.

Ante Cacic’s side at last looked to create something going into the final minutes, with Ivan Perisic flashing a ball across the box and then hitting the post - only for that to see Croatia momentarily stretched. Portugal at last stung. Nani played a fine ball to Cristiano Ronaldo with his saved effort - the first shot on target of the game - allowing Ricardo Quaresma to head home.

So, was this the moment to signal Portugal at last coming together? How did Croatia go from being so good against Spain to so dreary here? Why didn’t they actually try to attack earlier? And was this one of the worst matches in modern tournament history?

Those questions are probably all connected. Croatia were in the mood against Spain in that match that put them here, but also set up to break against that more purposeful possession football. There was just more movement between the lines, more scope for Perisic to be more dangerous.

That was not the case here, as Portugal didn’t really come out to play, and seemed a little too content with meaningless nice moves that went nowhere. That in turn meant Croatia had nowhere to go themselves and resulted in two neatly technical teams just nullifying each other.

It was often as if no one other than Perisic was willing to actually break. There were two moments that summed up so much frustration on both sides. In the first half, Perisic got so fed up with waiting for the right pass, that he tried to force an opportunity himself. He charged into the box but the fact he then tried a poor shot from such a bad angle indicated just how desperate and irritable he was coming.

Ronaldo didn’t even get the outlet of shooting to vent. When it looked like he might finally get a chance in the second half, only for the cross aimed at him to end up behind the goal, the Portuguese star lashed out and threw his arms in anger.

It was completely different by the time Quaresma finally scored. Ronaldo was lying on his back, with many of his team-mates jubilantly sliding in to do the same, in a moment of unison. Portugal had still been stodgy and lacking complete cohesion but the nature of the strike can bind them together. That can be the emotional power of late goals, even if they do temporarily cover up deeper problems. There was also the way of the goal. Nani played a fine disguised pass to Ronaldo, emphasising the individual quality in this beyond their great star, something that sometimes feels underplayed.

It brought a brilliant finish to the match, and one the awful 115 minutes beforehand just didn’t deserve.

There was suddenly energy and drama where there had previously been drabness and ennui.

It probably prevented this from going down as one of the worst matches in modern tournament history. There remain a few worse: Ukraine-Switzerland in 2006, France-Romania in 2008, Ireland-Egypt 1990, for example.

It was still just such a let-down, though, especially given the quality of the sides and how good Croatia looked.

Just like in Euro 2008, they seem to have squandered another chance to just go far and excite the tournament, let alone win it.

Portugal looked very short of the level of champions here, but they do have a more forgiving path now - and potentially the fire from this winning goal.

There are still, however, so many questions.