UEFA Nations League Semi-Finals - Ronaldo scores hat-trick for Portugal, Netherlands beat England in extra-time

Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick for Portugal set-up a final against the Netherlands, who needed extra-time to beat England, in the first UEFA Nations League Final.

Portugal 3-1 Switzerland
The 34-year-old opened the scoring with a low free kick in the first half, which wrong-footed Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer as it curled around the wall.
The Juventus forward had not played in any Nations League matches prior to this one - playing in just two of Portugal's last eight internationals.
In the matches he did play - Euro 2020 qualifiers against Serbia and Ukraine - he failed to score, and also drew blanks in Portugal's last two matches of the World Cup last summer - but he showed that you can never write him off producing a moment - or three - of magic on the big stage.

Photo from BBC Sport

While Vladimir Petkovic had named the hosts the favourites for this tie, it was his Swiss team that had more possession and had the better of the chances throughout the match.
Liverpool's Xherdan Shaqiri would have probably been man of the match if a certain someone hadn't scored a treble, the diminutive playmaker had created many chances before Ronaldo's free kick.
Shaqiri himself and Haris Seferovic both went close - the latter should have been at home in Portugal, playing his club football for Benfica.
Seferovic struck the crossbar with the team's best chance of the first half.

There was controversy over Switzerland's equaliser, as referee Felix Brych awarded a penalty for Portugal, with Silva going down near the goal-line - before the video-assistant referee advised him to check the screen at the side of the pitch and then reversing his decision - giving a spot-kick to Switzerland for Nelson Semedo's foul on Steven Zuber.
Ricardo Rodriguez calmly slotted away to level the scores, and as the game neared the 90-minute mark, the hosts struggled to regain control of the match.

But it was Ronaldo who - as we so often see - single-handedly won the match with a low powerful finish from a Bernardo Silva cross, before curling one in the same spot less that two minutes later - his 53rd hat-trick for club and country.
He sits second on the all-time international top scorers chart with 88 goals in 157 matches with only Iran's Ali Daei ahead of him.

Netherlands 1-1 (3-1 AET) England
England lost a second consecutive major semi-final in extra time, collapsing against the Netherlands in Guimaraes.
With captain Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson left out after their Champions League exploits at the weekend, Raheem Sterling was given the captaincy on his 50th cap.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for the Three Lions with a penalty after he was fouled by Matthijs de Ligt in the first half.
And it was the young Ajax defender who equalised, making amends from the foul with a towering header from a corner on 83 minutes.
England had been 2-1 up for a moment before VAR ruled substitute Jesse Lingard offside. 
England finished the 90 minutes the better but collapse in extra-time, looking tired.
John Stones was caught in possession by Memphis Depay, whose shot was well saved by Pickford, before Quincy Promes charged in to convert - though it went down as a Kyle Walker own goal.
The game was put beyond doubt when Stones played a weak pass forward into Ross Barkley who rushed to play a pass aimed for Pickford, but it found Memphis who squared for Promes to tap in.

Photo from BBC Sport

It would be easy to pick out Stones as the sole weak performer, but in truth Maguire made several mistakes, and they could have been costly but for some poor Dutch finishing from Memphis, while Walker was rescued by Pickford after the Manchester City right-back was dispossessed by the Lyon forward.
It's been the end of a long season, coming off the back of a World Cup campaign with many England stars featuring late into the Champions League, it really showed from their performance today, and there will be some concerns for Gareth Southgate.

In the other dugout, Ronald Koeman's side have shown remarkable development in his 15 months in charge - since their 1-0 home loss to England in March last year.
They look like an almost complete side, if they can find a clinical fornt man then they could challenge for the European Championships next year.
They seem to have the perfect balance between youth and experience to choose from, with Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt capable of being one of the best international defensive partnerships in a long time.
Frenkie de Jong also starred, the midfielder is on the way to Barcelona this summer, and looked calm and composed in the middle of the park, so much so that one would scarcely believe he's only 22.

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