Diogo. Costa - the door god who turns the tide, the Portuguese "big daddy" who opens the eyes of the sky.
rejected Sheshko's one-on-one knife and made three consecutive saves in the penalty shootout; Diogo. Costa saves Portugal and saves two 40-year-old men. It was he who helped Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe escape from the venue, and the European Championship journey could continue.
Although Pepe made a huge low-level mistake, he contributed at least 9 clearances and 3 interceptions in the backfield throughout the game, and he is still an indispensable mainstay of Portugal's defense.
Then Ronaldo, who is two years younger than Pepe, really has to give way, or he no longer has the ability to act as an arrow in Portugal.
In extra-time, when Jota burst into the box and was brought down, the referee resolutely pointed to the 12-yard point, and Ronaldo had a good chance to break the bar. But when Ronaldo's penalty was saved, his emotions fell out of control for a while, and he burst into tears on the spot; A number of players then went up to comfort the captain of the team during a brief break between the second and second halves of extra time.
From this lens, it is not difficult to see that the spiritual leaders of Portugal, while eager to break the wilderness, have also become psychologically fragile. Nowadays, Portuguese players no longer have the spiritual dependence on Ronaldo in the past.
Of course, in professional football, there are more players who miss penalties; The penalty didn't go through, so it's not a big deal. But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the current Ronaldo is dragging down the Portuguese team on the field.
In the 38th minute of the game, when Vitinha crossed into the penalty area, Ronaldo was once again close to the situation, he vented his dissatisfaction with himself.
This shot is actually a microcosm of the first half. Portugal on both sides, constantly sending high-quality crosses, but a little in the penalty area was basically controlled by the two Slovenian central defenders; Even if the two central defenders don't grab a little, they can carry Ronaldo behind them so that Ronaldo can't grab it.
With high-quality crosses but not grabbing points, why do Portugal insist on wide crosses?
Because Cristiano Ronaldo is here, you can only play like this!
Portugal has explosive points on the side, the midfielder must be hard and hard, technical and technical, there is no shortage of those who can pass and control, and there is no shortage of those who can plug in and solve problems.
It's because Portugal's midfield and wings are very strong, so they don't have such high requirements for the players in front. Whether it is a high striker who can be a fulcrum or a striker with the ability to run in a wide area, it is highly compatible with the technical and tactical style of these wing and midfielders of Portugal.
However, the current Ronaldo can neither act as a fulcrum, nor do he have the ability to cover a wide range in the front court.
Therefore, still letting him play the main force means that if the Portuguese team wants to forcibly penetrate from the middle, Ronaldo will not be able to carry the central defender in front.
If you want to play a small and fast game, you need everyone in the front court to run, and Ronaldo also can't meet the requirements.
Standing on the stump, running and kicking, Ronaldo can only play as a pie-eating striker, forcing Portugal to take more wide crosses. But the cross was in place, and Ronaldo, whose physical function had seriously declined, could no longer grab the point.
Seeing that the effect of the cross from the wing was not good, Portugal decisively changed the style of play. From the second half of the first half, the Portuguese team began to pick up the pace, and they played a number of quick attacks and defenses with their opponents. But when a team's arrowhead is 39 years old and the central defender is 41 years old, it is obvious that playing fast attack and defense is not very beneficial to Portugal; The effect of their conversion is significantly inferior to that of Slovenia.
The cross could not be grabbed and the transition was not as good as the opponent, and the Portuguese team in the second half had to try to penetrate more into the middle.
As for the effect? Obviously not very good. Because of forced penetration, there are high requirements for the center's ability to do the ball, and Ronaldo cannot meet this requirement.
However, Ronaldo's problem is not only that he is on the field, which limits the team's playing style. The bigger problem is that as long as he is on the field, the whole team has to feed him, free kicks, penalty kicks, no one else can grab him. Among the 4 direct free kicks, if it was a little farther, on the left side of the penalty area, he hit it; But the free kick on the right side in front of the penalty area is obviously more suitable for the left-footed B seat, and he still takes the ball away directly, isn't this relying on the old and selling the old?
The whole team has unlimited firing rights, and has become the player with the most shots on goal since the beginning of the European Cup, but no matter how good the opportunity is, it has not been broken so far. The current Cristiano Ronaldo is actually a bit similar to Manchester United during Ten Hag's time, he still has a very strong desire to play, he still believes that he is the best player in the world, and he should enjoy an absolute core position and unlimited firing rights. It's just that the same bald heads, Ten Hag and Martinez have taken a very different approach.
Ten Hag's iron fist directly led to a falling out between the two, and Ronaldo left for West Asia. And Martinez, as a master of the mud, chose to tie his coaching prospects in the Portuguese team to Cristiano Ronaldo. The advantage of this is that his use of Ronaldo satisfies Ronaldo's wishes, and Ronaldo can also help him get the dressing room.
However, Ronaldo's performance not only did not repay Martinez's trust; If a team's offense revolves around a 39-year-old player who has suffered a serious decline in form, but is still extremely confident in himself and shoots on the field, then the ceiling of this team cannot be high!
For the sake of Cristiano Ronaldo and for the sake of the future of the Portuguese team, he should really play as a substitute.
In the next game against France, Portugal is the underdog, and they need to fight for their opponents! And the 40-year-old player can't support this kind of high-intensity war of attrition.