Euro 2016 Daily Five: Cristiano Ronaldo reaches final four; Eden Hazard back in action

With the Euro 2016 quarter-final round officially begun on Thursday night, we collate our best content from the previous 24 hours to keep you on top of the latest from the tournament.

1 – Portugal move on and yet hold promise

Cristiano Ronaldo and Co advanced past Poland on penalties, and Ian Hawkey writes if it has not been especially convincing, it has nonetheless been encouraging in ways.

Particularly from Renato Sanches, Thursday night's goalscorer:

“Everybody in the Portugal camp, talks of Renato’s fearlessness. ‘It doesn’t matter how old he is,’ remarked Ricardo Carvalho, the defender, a colleague more than twice Renato’s age. ‘When he comes onto the pitch, he is a man, and he brings with him intensity.’

“Soon after he had scored, he was driving goalwards again, his surge snuffed out by Krzysztof Maczynski.

“As recently as last November, Renato was playing in Portgual’s Under-19 league, for Benfica’s juniors. By the end of that month, having been promoted to the first-team squad he had made his Champions League debut and in April played impressively enough in the tight quarter-final of that competition against Bayern Munich that the Bundesliga holders made their bold move. Benfica had taken the precaution of raising the young man’s buyout clause to a whopping €80 million (Dh326.3m).

“If he reaches all the targets sewn into his contract with them, Benfica might end up with a sum very close to that; the initial fee is €35m, hefty for a teenager with barely half a senior season under his belt.

“Under his braids, he is an exciting footballer, industrious, brave and dynamic. Portugal needed that against a Poland who had been protecting their excellent start ably enough.”

2 – Axel Witsel, divisive and yet indispensable

Ian Hawkey identifies a perhaps unlikely X-factor in Belgium’s mission to reach the semi-finals ahead of Wales: oft-maligned Zenit Saint Petersburg defensive midfielder Axel Witsel.

Ian writes it is Witsel's stellar defensive nous that will be key to stopping Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for his Belgian side:

“He has the firm trust of Wilmots, and the helpful memory of having kept Lionel Messi pretty quiet at the same stage of the last World Cup.”

3 – Britain’s best

Richard Jolly, meanwhile, writes Wales, as Britain's last stand at Euro 2016, have proved that in this moment they are the best the UK have to offer:

“Times have changed. Wales, officially the 117th best team in international football in 2011, could be one of Europe’s top four by the end of Friday night. There is an awareness that such opportunities may not present themselves again.”

4 – Del Bosque leaves

Apart from Portugal’s progress to the semi-finals, the other big news on Thursday night was the resignation of Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque. The man who led his nation to the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship, Del Bosque left his position after disappointing defences of both the world and European titles.

Here is a look at where it went wrong for one of the most decorated managers in the world.

5 – Eden Hazard back in action

Eden Hazard left Belgium’s round of 16 contest against Hungary, and had yet to show in the last few days he was fully fit and ready for the quarter-final affair.

Fans of the Belgians can rest a little easier, however, as he was out and active in training on Thursday.

Check out some images from the session in our photo gallery.