PORTUGAL and Cristiano Ronaldo continue to stumble unconvincingly towards the latter stages of these European Championships. But at least they are still going.

They left it very late to settle a dreadful last 16 tie against Croatia, finding a goal with just four minutes of extra-time remaining to push their way into the quarter-finals. It came on the counter attack as Croatia pushed for a winner themselves, Nani feeding Ronaldo whose shot was saved only to then fall for substitute Ricardo Quaresma who headed in from right on the line.

Portugal’s reward – ill-deserved as it seems given their part in what was the worst game of the competition to date – is a tie against Poland on Thursday.

These are two of the more entertaining and attack-minded teams in Europe but both seemed stifled by a fear of losing rather than focussing on trying to win and the rewards that would bring. For Portugal, there was little of note until that decisive last chance from Ronaldo – at one point he even let someone else take a free kick – or Nani who marked his 100th cap by drifting to the periphery and staying there. Croatia had more of the ball but did little with it. They repeatedly looked to Ivan Rakitic, who seemed to draw a foul every couple of minutes, and Luka Modric but, again, it was all very plodding, with little pace or invention.

By half-time both sides had no more than one real chance apiece to brag about. That great pantomime villain of European football, Pepe, had Portugal’s only real opportunity, but couldn’t direct his header from a free kick under the crossbar. Ivan Perisic, the chequered Croatian flag painted onto the side of his head, had a half-chance for his team, the anticipation that greeted him cutting in from the right flank quickly fizzling out as he dribbled his shot into the side netting. It was all fairly uninspired.

Matters did improve marginally in the second half although Portugal’s lethargy nearly cost them when Croatia sprung a short corner that caught their opponents dozing. It should have brought about the opening goal of the game for a Croatian team gradually starting to underline their authority but Marcelo Brozovic was wasteful with the opening, sending his shot spiralling into the stand.

Portugal brought on Renato Sanches, Bayern Munich’s new £30m acquisition, to try to add greater dynamism to their midfield and he almost made an immediate impact. In a rare Portugal attack, the 18 year-old was involved four or five times in the build-up before screwing his final shot well wide of goal.

It was another sign of play, gradually, opening up a bit and Croatia really ought to have moved in front with their next attack. It was a brave move from Domagoj Vida to position himself in front of Mario Mandzukic as the pair jockeyed to meet Darijo Srna’s enticing free kick, but having done so he should have done much better than slide a free header wide of goal. Mandzukic’s look of disgust towards his team-mate said it all.

It would prove a false dawn, however. By the end of the 90 minutes neither side had managed a single shot on target, taking what had looked like in advance like a captivating match-up into extra-time. It was as if neither side had any great desire to go deeper into the tournament.

They showed no greater ambition in the extra half hour, the lack of goalmouth action making Wales’ narrow win over Northern Ireland earlier look like a swashbuckling classic in comparison. Little wonder the players were booed off at half-time of extra-time by an increasingly fed-up set of supporters.

All the drama came in the final few minutes. A Croatian attack concluded with Perisic crossing right across the face of the Portugal with no takers, and when the ball came back from the right the Inter Milan’s player struck the post. A penalty shoot-out looked inevitable then but Portugal, finally, found a way to win.