"Sadness turned into joy in the end - that's soccer."
In what was effectively his European Football Championship 'farewell' match, the Euro 2024 round of 16, Portugal's 'captain' Cristiano Ronaldo (39, Alnasr) experienced a dramatic mix of 'tears and laughter'.
Ronaldo hung his head in shame after missing a crucial penalty in the final minute of stoppage time of their Euro 2024 round of 16 match against Slovenia at the Frankfurt Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, on Tuesday (June 2), with the score tied 0-0.
Ronaldo's shot from the right corner of the box deflected off a diving Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) and into the right-hand post.
After blowing a crucial scoring chance, Ronaldo clutched his head with both hands and looked pained, eventually walking off the field after the first half of extra time in tears and consoled by his teammates.
In the end, Portugal were unable to draw 0-0 with Slovenia after 120 minutes of hard-fought first-half and extra time, forcing a penalty shootout to dry the blood.
Portugal, ranked sixth in the FIFA rankings, had a whopping 20 shots on goal against Slovenia, ranked 57th in the FIFA rankings, 바카라사이트 추천 but none were on target, sending the match into penalties and threatening to bring a premature end to their bid to reclaim their crown eight years after winning the 2016 tournament.
Finally, the penalty shootout began with Slovenia in the lead.
Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa (Atlético Madrid) quickly threw himself to his feet to palm away a left-footed shot from Slovenia's No. 1 kicker Josip Ilisic (Maribor) that found the right side of the net.
Ronaldo was Portugal's first kicker.
After a failed penalty kick attempt, Ronaldo tried his luck with a right-footed shot into the left corner of the goal.
Oblak, who had saved Ronaldo's penalty, anticipated the direction and took his shot, but this time his fingertips were just out of reach.
Portugal goalkeeper Costa pulled off an exhilarating save to deny Slovenia's second and third kicks, and Portugal's second and third kicks both found the back of the net to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win on penalties.
According to UEFA, Costa became the first player in history to make three saves in a penalty shootout at a European tournament and was named Player of the Match.
After Portugal's quarterfinal victory was confirmed, 'Captain' Ronaldo showed his gratitude with a strong hug to Costa.
Despite reaching the quarterfinals, Ronaldo has yet to find the back of the net in four games (three group games plus the round of 16) at the tournament after missing a penalty against Slovenia.
Ronaldo, who is playing in his sixth Euro, has played 366 minutes over the four games, attempting 20 shots, but has failed to find the back of the net.
He picked up one assist in the second Group F match against Thirkiye, when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the 10th minute of the second half and passed to Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), who came racing in from the other side.
The assist gave Ronaldo eight career assists at the tournament (2 at Euro 2004 - 1 at Euro 2008 - 3 at Euro 2016 - 1 at Euro 2020 - 1 at Euro 2024), tying him with Karel Poborsky (Czech Republic - 8) for the most assists at the tournament in history.
Ronaldo will now look to repeat his feat in the quarterfinals against 'favorites' France on June 6.
Speaking to the media after the Slovenia game, Ronaldo said: "Sadness turned into joy in the end. This is football. I can't really explain it in words," he said after the game.
"The penalty that could have given us the lead was saved by Oblak, I've never missed a penalty before, but when I really needed it, it was saved," he said, adding, "I'm the first penalty kicker in the penalty shootout, but this time I was confident."
