Too little, too late: Lewandowski scores as Poland exits
MARSEILLE, France (AP) - It's a case of too little too late for Robert Lewandowski.
Poland's star player finally broke his European Championship drought but it wasn't enough to keep Poland in the tournament.
A night that started spectacularly for the Poland captain with a goal after just one minute and 40 seconds - the second fastest in any European Championship - ended in frustration and heartbreak as his team lost on penalties to Portugal in their quarterfinal at the Stade Velodrome.
"It's painful," said Lewandowski, who found the net just once in France after scoring 13 times in qualifiers. "Football is a very brutal competition."
Add the 27-year-old Bayern Munich striker to a list of stars who failed to shine at Euro 2016.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn't score as Sweden crashed out at the group stage and immediately announced his international retirement.
Harry Kane went home goalless and fellow England striker Jamie Vardy managed just one strike as England fell short in the round of 16 - not the way either would have wanted their stellar club seasons to end.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo did score a memorable brace against Hungary but he's been below par for most of the tournament. On Thursday he was particularly out of sorts, uncharacteristically squandering two good chances when he missed the ball altogether.
But Ronaldo can at least look forward to putting things right as Portugal heads to a July 6 semifinal against Wales or Belgium in Lyon.
Lewandowski is going home.
If anything, Lewandowski's scoring woes underscored the gulf in quality between some teams in qualifying and those that made it to the tournament, even in its expanded 24-team format.
His qualification tally came in part because Poland was in a group that included Gibraltar and Georgia. The Bayern Munich striker scored six of his goals against Gibraltar and three against Georgia - a hat-trick that came in the final five minutes of the match. He managed just one goal in two qualification matches against world champion Germany.
He didn't have any problems finding the net in the German Bundesliga season, scoring 30 goals as Bayern romped to another title, becoming the first man since 1977 to score 30 in a season.
But on Thursday, Portugal's center back pairing of Pepe and Jose Fonte shadowed his every move and rarely gave him a clear sight of goal beyond his classy side-footed finish in the second minute.
His intelligent runs carved out more early chances, but the goal was as good as it got for Lewandowski until he converted his spot kick in the penalty shootout that Portugal won 5-3 after Jakub Blaszczykowski had his effort well-saved by Rui Patricio.
Poland coach Adam Nawalka insisted he was happy with his captain's performances, saying that Lewandowski's play is about much more than just goals.
"Robert Lewandowski is still and always will be a huge player for this team," Nawalka said. "He's the captain; he motivates players on the pitch and off the pitch. His behavior is something that I can only praise."
Now Poland and Lewandowski will look to build on what's widely perceived back home as a relatively successful European Championship campaign during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
"That's a much harder path than the European Championship qualifiers," Lewandowski said. "A new round of games is near in the next two, three months and we will again have to give the maximum."
One positive Lewandowski can take from Thursday's defeat: Portugal's 18-year-old prodigy Renato Sanches, who scored his team's equalizer, will be playing alongside him at Bayern next season.