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In the early morning of July 2, Beijing time, the 2024 Euro Cup 1/8 finals between Portugal and Slovenia went to extra time, and the two veterans in the Portuguese team made mistakes one after another, first Ronaldo's penalty was saved by Oblak, and then Pepe slipped in front of his own penalty area, and Sheshko got a great opportunity for a single knife, if the Leipzig striker scored this goal, Portugal basically had no possibility of saving the score. It was Diogo Costa who stepped up at the moment, struggling with his feet to keep out Sheshko's shot into the far corner, a save that brought Portugal back from the brink of exit.
And when it comes to penalty shoot-outs, Costa is even more like his predecessor - in the 2006 World Cup, he saved three penalties to eliminate England's Ricardo possession. Compared to Ricardo, Costa's achievements are even more impressive, he saved three penalties in a row, kept a clean sheet against Slovenia in the penalty shoot-out, and became the biggest contributor to Portugal's promotion, and deserves to be the most expensive goalkeeper in the world (40 million euros).
At the Qatar World Cup two years ago, Diogo Costa made a low-level mistake against Ghana, and it was Cristiano Ronaldo who was by his side to comfort the young goalkeeper who was playing his first World Series appearance. And now, when Cristiano Ronaldo shed unwilling tears after missing a point in extra time, Costa personally continued the captain's flame of hope, and he also washed away the shame of the World Cup with his perfect performance in this game.
At the 2022 World Cup, Costa was stolen from behind by Iñaki Williams in the final moments of his major debut against Ghana, almost turning Portugal's three points into one. It wasn't until the quarterfinals against Morocco that Costa was once again reckless in attack, and An-Nesyri seized the opportunity to score the winning header, and the final result proved that Costa's mistake was even more fatal, which directly led to the Portuguese team being eliminated by Morocco.
One and a half years later, in the European Cup, Costa who once again guarded the city for Portugal has matured a lot, although he did not have too many highlights in the group stage, but he was not as panicked as he was in the Qatar World Cup, and the scene of reckless attacks and blind dribbling was cut off never again until he got the opportunity to perform in this game and became the hero of the Portuguese team. Originally, Slovenia's Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Oblak also had a brilliant performance in this game, but with a single knife continuation + three consecutive penalty saves, Costa's limelight is enough to overshadow Oblak, who is one of the best goalkeepers in the world today.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, Costa had won the attention of Manchester United, Chelsea and other clubs with his outstanding performance in Porto. Costa saved three penalties in a row in the Champions League group stage last season, but after a poor World Cup performance, the clubs that focused on Costa switched to other goalkeepers, with Manchester United bringing in Onana and Chelsea signing Roberto Sanchez, with Costa remaining at Porto.
Last season, Costa followed Porto to face Arsenal in the Champions League 1/8 finals, and that round also entered the penalty shootout, but Costa who has always been good at saving points did not play well in the penalty shootout and failed to save any of the Gunners' penalty kicks. And now on the stage of the European Championship, Costa has made a name for himself with a hero-like performance and brought Portugal to the quarter-finals.
Source: Sports.com