In the early morning of July 2, Beijing time, the 2024 European Cup has ended two 1/8 finals, after the French team narrowly defeated Belgium 1-0, Portugal also eliminated Slovenia 3-0 with a penalty shootout, so that the first half of the knockout round known as the death half zone was born two groups of giant matchups: Portugal vs. France, Germany vs. Spain, and then counting England and Switzerland, which broke through to the quarterfinals in the second half, the top 8 of this European Cup have been out of 6!
On this match day, the world's top three matchups between France and Belgium took the lead, judging from the previous games, the performance of both teams failed to meet outside expectations, the French team was dumb in attack, and the Belgian team lost to Slovakia, both of which qualified for the second place in the group and met early in the first round of the knockout round. In this campaign, both sides discharged 433 starting formations, but Belgium is still mainly defensive counterattack, and the possession is basically on the side of the French team, but the French team's athletic goal ability is still poor, Mbappe and Griezmann have missed opportunities, until the 85th minute of the game, substitute Muani turned and shot in the penalty area, hit Vertonghen's leg and refracted into the net, the deadlock was finally broken, and the French team finally won 1-0 with Vertonghen's own goal.
In the 2/4 zone, another 16-8 knockout match was played, and Portugal played Slovenia. Portugal topped the group, while Slovenia qualified for the knockout round of 16 with three draws, and there was a certain gap on paper. However, Slovenia is a team with high tactical literacy, strong physical confrontation ability, and very effective counter-attack, and in the warm-up match in March this year, Slovenia beat Portugal in an upset. In addition, Slovenia are also masters of draws, with their last 4 matches in all competitions being drawn with their opponents and 5 of their last 7 matches. If you want to gnaw on a hard bone like Slovenia, Portugal will definitely not be easy, Ronaldo has not been able to score in this European Cup, and in the face of Slovenia, whether Ronaldo can score is also a big spot.
In the first half, Ronaldo missed chances one after another, and Palhina's shot also popped off the middle post, and Portugal and Slovenia exchanged blanks. In the second half, Ronaldo's free kick was saved by Oblak, Sesco missed a single shot, and Ronaldo missed a chance to kill in the 89th minute, and drew 0-0 in regular time. In extra time, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty and cried, and Sesko missed a single shot. In the penalty shootout, Portugal goalkeeper Costa saved 3 penalties in a row, and Portugal eliminated Slovenia 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.