Renato Sanches: I asked to take a penalty vs. Poland, I was very cool and collected

The young midfielder showed no nerves as he stood over the ball and calmly dispatched his kick to maintain Portugal’s 100% record.

They progressed to the next round where they will face Wales and speaking after the game Sanches spoke of how he wasn’t at all nervous despite taking a penalty with such high stakes hanging in the balance.

“The coach asked who wanted to shoot, Cristiano was first and I said I would be second,” he said, as quoted by the Guardian.

“The coach had faith in me, and I was confident enough to ask to shoot. I was just thinking about scoring. I was very cool, very collected, and I did what I always do. I picked a side and put it in.”

The game against Poland was Sanches’ first start for his country and he drew plenty of praise for a very confident performance, switching between a wide role and a stint at No.10.

His transfer to Bayern was confirmed before the tournament started, with the Bundesliga side reportedly beating off interest from Manchester United in order to sign him