Ronaldo's Demon Within

For the previous two matches leading to this encounter, the Portugal team was able to rely on Ronaldo to make its overall effort even better.

But Ronaldo played for the team in both the game against Netherlands and the game against the Czech Republic.
He clearly played for himself, unfortunately for Portugal, in this match.

When that chance came, when Portugal was going forward on the counter-attack and had about two extra attackers than Spain, Ronaldo would have been well-advised to not go for glory right away, but to pick his head up and look for the best option.
Even if he had to shoot, where was that composure from the match against Netherlands, when he tricked the defender? Where was the finesse?
Ronaldo wanted that fourth goal, I'm sure, and that's why he was shooting whenever the opportunity presented itself. (Free kicks, too, which were all wasted because Ronaldo could not even shoot it low enough to keep it on target.)

And yet Portugal played very well. They would have been the more deserving side to win the match, after the 90 minutes.

In extra time, Spain played better, and had 3-4 chances to finish off the Portuguese, but Portugal showed good defending skills, too.
Iniesta, probably, should have scored in extra time, but Patricio did very well to block the experienced Spanish midfielder.

It was all decided on penalties, again, for the second consecutive match.

And there was an even better story, in this one.
Spain won the coin toss, and they decided to take the spot kicks on that side of the field where many Spanish supporters were sitting, behind the goal.
But Xabi Alonso, the first penalty taker, could not beat Patricio. It was looking good for Portugal, much like it had been looking good for England, three days prior.
And then it swung the other way.
Joao Moutinho did even more poorly, and Casillas saved. Still 0-0 between the two sides, after 120 minutes and two penalties.
Iniesta, Pepe and Pique all scored. And, then, Bruno Alves was walking to take his penalty kick. But Nani sprints to catch up to Alves, sends him back, and Nani takes the kick. He scores, but, still, what was that all about?
Sergio Ramos has the next kick, and he decides to do it much like Pirlo. He succeeds.
And now Alves is coming back to take his penalty. (Apparently, Ronaldo is the last taker of the five for Portugal.) He hits the ball with a lot of power, but, just like Ashley Young, the ball comes back out off the crossbar.
This all means, of course, that Fabregas, the next spot-kick taker, just had to score and Spain would win the match.
He does, but not without some emotions. The ball hits the post to the right of Patricio, and then trickles into goal way on the other side, behind the goalkeeper and the goal line, before hitting the net on Patricio's left-hand side to make it clear to the spectators, too, that Spain had won.

Here's how the shootout went:
-- Spain - Alonso - miss - 0-0
-- Portugal - Moutinho - miss - 0-0
-- Spain - Iniesta - goal - 1-0
-- Portugal - Pepe - goal - 1-1
-- Spain - Pique - goal - 2-1
-- Portugal - Nani - goal - 2-2
-- Spain - Ramos - goal - 3-2
-- Portugal - Alves - miss - 3-2
-- Spain - Fabregas - goal - 4-2 (and Portugal's last penalty kick becomes irrelevant)