In a tournament dominated by dark horses and underdogs, this Round of 16 clash between reigning European champions Portugal and FIFA's canonical top ranked team in the world looked like the first true heavyweight clash of Euro 2020.

Both sides lined up a full strength starting XI and had benches full of key impact players ready to come on if and when required. Captains Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard greeted each other with a wary respect prematch. The anticipation, when the whistle blew, turned quickly to a tense excitement.

It then fizzled out quite quickly. In boxing, one of the worst types of fight is when two hard punchers face each other: they know the damage the opponent can do so they're wary of engaging themselves. This is what the bulk of Belgium vs. Portugal resembled.

Belgium began by passing the ball around the back, waiting for a gap to appear in the Portuguese. Even the slightly probing movements from Axel Witsel and Thomas Meunier reached roughly the dividing line of the pitch before retreating; this was a side that was living in fear of Ronaldo, a player hunger than ever to score as he was one goal away from the international record.

When Portugal got the ball, the game didn't get much more exciting. Belgium were right: their whole ethos was to get the front three of Diogo Jota, Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva involved as quickly as possible. However, as all three were well guarded by the veteran defence of Thomas Vermaelen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, Portugal were just as cagey as the Belgians.

The match crawled towards half time. The only change is the amount of speculative shots that went nowhere increased. And then, out of nowhere, Thomas Meunier picked up a loose ball and passed it to Thorgan Hazard. He knocked it on, took a step and blasted it from about 25 yards into the net over the head of goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

In a normal game it would have been sensational, in a game as staid as this, it was a thing of beauty. The power, the accuracy, the swerve that took it into the corner at the last minute: it was beautiful.

This was contrasted by a scene of horror for Belgium moments later when Kevin de Bruyne, already a wary presence following his facial injury in the Champions League final, was tackled by Joao Palhinha. He struggled to get up and finish the half, he then had to go off moments into the second half. The way de Bruyne was hobbling suggests he will be unavailable for the remainder of the tournament.

He was replaced by Dries Mertens and the game continued in the same manner as the first half. The goal didn't spur Portugal on in a positive way, it only seemed to make them more desperate. Their manager Fernando Santos is known for his work bolstering defences and now it was clear he had no real ideas about what to do going forwards.

With roughly 15 minutes remaining, Romelu Lukaku got snapped and the referee blew the whistle for a free kick. Either because he didn't hear or thought he was being played an advantage, Hazard kept going. Pepe, filthy at the best of time, intentionally took him down to force him to stop, prompting a clash between the two sides.

This confirmed the tie was basically over unless Ronaldo could produce some magic. Portugal spent the final chunk of the game barrelling forwards. It was too little, too late and the game ended 1-0.

It was a less than stellar game and the enduring image comes from after the 90 minutes. Ronaldo took off his captain's arm band and threw it to the floor in a bout of frustrated anger. With the World Cup barely 18 months away, he will surely play for Portugal again, however it is clear now that he knows his time with the squad is quickly running out.