In the early morning of July 2, in a 1/8 final of the 2024 European Championship in Germany, Portugal eliminated Slovenia 3-0 through a penalty shootout and advanced to the quarterfinals. The star of the game was Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who saved three penalties in a row in the shoot-out to protect Portugal to advance. However, although Ronaldo did not score in the game, he also became the focus of the whole game.
In this game, the 39-year-old Ronaldo started the game as the team's center forward. In the game, teammates repeatedly started the ball on both sides, but Ronaldo grabbed points many times and did not pose a threat to the opponent's goal. In addition, he also took a number of free-kicks in the game, but they were either saved or played high. After 90 minutes, Portugal failed to score and the two sides went into extra-time with a 0-0 scoreline.
Just before the end of extra-time, Jota converted a penalty that was a great chance for Portugal to kill the game. Cristiano Ronaldo was the team's first penalty taker, but his penalty was saved by Oblak this time when he had almost hit a hundred penalties. After Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty, the first half of extra time ended. At this time, the Portuguese team came to the sidelines, and when the coach arranged the tactics, the 39-year-old Ronaldo actually cried bitterly. At this time, the game is not over yet, and the Portuguese team is not out yet!
At the European Championship in Portugal 20 years ago, 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo cried bitterly on the pitch after losing the final against Greece. 20 years have passed, Cristiano Ronaldo has become the captain of the team, but after 20 years, we have seen Ronaldo crying in the European Cup. Seeing the big brother in tears, B Fei, Cancelo and 21-year-old player Conceição hurriedly stepped forward to comfort Ronaldo. It is worth mentioning that this is the second time in a month that Ronaldo has shed tears on the pitch. Not long ago, in the final of the Saudi King's Cup, Riyadh lost to Riyadh Crescent and missed the championship. After the game, Ronaldo cried bitterly.
After 120 minutes of extra time, Portugal and Slovenia were still tied 0-0 and the game went to penalties. In the end, it was Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa who saved three consecutive penalties in the penalty shootout to protect Ronaldo and Portugal to advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the penalty in the penalty shootout, did not celebrate, but made an apologetic gesture to the fans.
The missed penalty in extra time was full of regrets for Ronaldo. This European Championship is Ronaldo's sixth participation, becoming the first person in history. Since the last European Championship, Ronaldo has surpassed Platini to become the all-time top scorer in the European Championship with 14 goals. In the second game of this European Cup, Ronaldo assisted B Fei to score, and tied with Poboski for 8 assists to become the all-time assist king of the European Cup. If he scores in this game, Ronaldo will set another record: scoring in six consecutive European Championships. But Ronaldo unfortunately missed the record.