The sands of time

Round of 16: Portugal 0 - 0 Slovenia (Portugal win 3-0 on pens)

A largely disappointing first hour of the game turned slowly into an absolute classic. As soon as Slovenia got a sniff of it being on, they morphed, wonderfully, into Shithouse FC and I'm absolutely here for that kind of stuff.

Banks of four. Heroic defending. A majestic keeping display from Oblak. Ronaldo demanding all set pieces and (still, after all these years) wazzing them over the bar. 

And yet, despite Portugal's dominance, Slovenia started to threaten. Their finishing was woeful, a function of being unpracticed and unused in the tourney this far. This was to recur horribly in the shootout but not before we saw the sands of time catching up with both Pepe and Ronaldo. Pepe had his very own Gerrard moment, as his legs and brain had a disagreement about what 41 year old men are capable of doing, running wise, two hours into a match. Slovenia's finishing let him off the hook. Ronaldo had an existential after seeing Oblak saving his earlier pen. Both players have more viable alternatives on the bench, but Martinez is afflicted with the same loyalty/cowardice (delete as per your preference) as Southgate, preferring the misty image of what once was, to the cold reality of what is actually happening.

A satisfying match, and the right result. This side of the draw is going to keep on giving.