Euro 2012 Live Stream: Players to Watch in Czech Republic vs. Portugal

Pinpointing one or two plays that decide a football game is easy.

And one or two plays is usually all it takes to decide a match. In Portugal’s quarterfinals contest against the Czech Republic on Thursday, June 21^st at 2:45 p.m. ET, here’s a trio of footballers that are likely to make the game-winning play.

Watch a live stream of the Euro 2012 match at ESPN3.

3. Vaclav Pilar

The Czech Republic’s Pilar is one of only 11 players to score multiple goals in the group stage. While one of his goals came in a loss to Russia, his second proved to be the difference in his nation’s triumph over Greece. The 23-year-old has drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi and will look to justify them against Cristiano Ronaldo’s club.

2. Petr Jiracek

Despite a negative goal differential, the Czech Republic still finished first in Group A. For that, they can thank Jiracek who launched home the game-winning goal to give them a 1-0 victory over Poland to avoid a three-way tie with Greece and Russia. He also scored the other goal in the Czech's 2-1 win over Greece and he’ll need to be the difference again against Portugal.

According to the Associated Press, Jiracek said after advancing to the quarterfinals (via Kitsap Sun):

"

We had a poor start but we gradually improved, started to create chances and finally, we deserved to score. We all worked hard, everyone played. I'm glad we came back and showed the strength of the team. I'm really proud that we came back after the loss to Russia and responded to criticism with two wins.

"

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Who else?

In a must-win game against the Netherlands, Ronaldo finally showed up rocketing two balls into the net to give Portugal a 2-1 win. When hot, he’s one of, if not the best player in the world. If Ronaldo is active, the Portuguese should be able to edge out the Czech Republic and advance to the next round.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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