Renato Sanches set to be Portugal's main man
Portugal's greatest solution...
In a Benfica boardroom, Portuguese men in dark suits are gleefully rubbing their hands.
The dreadlocked terrier will make them so much money.
Renato Sanches came into Euro 2016 as a boy. He threatens to depart France as a monster.
The kid's potential convinced Bayern Munich to pay £27.5 million ($48.5m) for his services, but that potential is slowly giving way to pedigree.
Benfica could end up with £63m in transfer add-ons. Portugal could end up in the final.
As Fernando Santos' stuttering stars face Wales in the semi-final tomorrow morning (Singapore time), the spotlight inevitably falls on Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In Hollywood terms, the two are sitting across from each other in an American diner and reminiscing about their respective careers like Roberto de Niro and Al Pacino in the movie Heat.
But the rare meeting of two industry greats, while having the makings of a masterclass, may also prove to be the beginning of a long goodbye.
The semi-final will probably not represent the end of Ronaldo and Portugal, but the sun is setting on the country's brightest illumination.
Sanches hints at a new day.
Lyon could play host to a changing of the guard, a discreet passing of the baton from one generation to the next, from attack to central midfield.
Portugal's quarter-final emphasised the issue of a squad almost lost in transition. Ronaldo and Luis Nani, with 60 years between them, fought the hourglass almost as much as Poland's obdurate back four.
But Sanches struggled with an internal battle against inconsistency and inexperience. He's a woolly head on young shoulders.
His coach Santos has perhaps unwisely compared Saches to Mario Coluna, one of the greatest Portuguese players of all time, while simultaneously acknowledging that Sanches' power and puberty are a tough combination.
HORMONAL KID
At 18, he's is a hormonal kid always in a hurry, a brilliant bulldog in search of an ankle to bite, a ball to steal or a rival move to puncture.
Dynamism and youthful enthusiasm are his finest assets, handicapped by an occasional lack of direction. He's that bulldog chasing his own tail, blessed with the lung capacity to do it all day long.
The trouble is he goes round in circles.
But, against Poland, Sanches found his focus, along with a route to goal and a level of consistency that finally matched talent with temperament.
He cast a long shadow. Even Ronaldo lost his lustre in comparison. In one game, he went from cocky kid to main man.
Behind a microphone, Chris Coleman has spent a week grudgingly praising the perfect specimen that is Ronaldo.
Beside a whiteboard, however, he had to be privately addressing the muscular threat of Sanches.
Without the suspended Aaron Ramsey, Andy King now finds himself elevated to chief babysitter alongside Joe Ledley, both midfielders forced to look after a kid with unusual growing pains.
The more Sanches grows, the more he pains others.
Physically, the teenager doesn't make much sense, as if his body shape was determined not by his parents, but by comic book illustrators.
His legs appear to be cut from oak trees and slotted into ballet shoes. He shares the bulk of an offshore tanker, but turns like a sampan.
In full flight against Poland, his movement was a confusing treat, somehow combining that rugged, teak-like torso with fast feet and lovely balance.
And the quarter-final was only his first start of the tournament, earning him a second against Wales.
In some harsh ways perhaps, Ronaldo succeeded in spite of his birthplace, not because of it.
But Sanches appears to be made of equally stern stuff, combining physique with fortitude to earn his nation's place in the final four.
Wales may be about to learn that Portugal's greatest threat is no longer Ronaldo, but the eager kid lurking over his shoulder, ready and waiting to succeed him.
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