FRANKFURT, Germany (AP):
NO ONE achieves such operatic drama in international football as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal are heading for a blockbuster quarter-final against France at the European Championships after their star captain generated spectator appeal on centre stage during victory over Slovenia yesterday.
Winning a penalty shootout 3-0 after a 0-0 game against the 57th-ranked team in the world may not seem like much.
But there were tears, plenty of them, from Ronaldo; a prayerful apology to his fans, who responded with adulation; extravagant arm gestures in anger, frustration and exasperation; wasted and denied opportunities to make more tournament history; a renewed duel with an old rival goalkeeper; and, finally, redemption and victory.
Mother cried
Ronaldo’s mother was at the stadium and television footage also showed her crying after he missed his penalty.
“It’s sometimes difficult to score penalties,” Ronaldo told Portuguese broadcaster RTP after the match, becoming emotional again. “I’ve scored more than 200 penalties in my career. Sometimes it’s a disaster.”
Still, the final act of yesterday’s show gave Portugal what it needed.
“We showed the enthusiasm we have to keep playing, to have fun, to bring joy to the fans and that’s it, this is our life,” he said once everything was over, close to midnight in Frankfurt.
Ronaldo, 39, went into the Euro 2024 match without scoring.
The moment he probably became the oldest player to score in a European Championship finals came in the first period of extra time, in the 105th minute, after missing five or six of the chances he has liked the most in the past 20 years at this level.
Portugal had been awarded a penalty and Ronaldo stepped up to score what could have been the decisive goal.
Instead, Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak, an old rival from his days playing in the Spanish league in Madrid, dived to his left to divert the well-taken shot onto a post and out of harm’s way.
Tears welled up in Ronaldo’s eyes and were soon to flow during the break before the start of the second half of extra time. His teammates consoled him, kissed his forehead and encouraged him to carry on.
Extra time also ended 0-0 and when the penalty shoot-out began, Slovenia’s first shot was saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Ronaldo stepped into a crowd of Portuguese fans and placed the ball perfectly low, beyond Oblak, who dived to his right.
Ronaldo looked at the fans apologetically and put his hands together as if in prayer. The fans responded with a shout of “Siuuuu,” the trademark cry of their football idol.
“He knew he had to be the first to take the penalties and show us the way to victory,” said Portuguese coach Roberto Martinez. “Life gives you difficult moments and the way he reacted fills us with pride.”
Costa answered the prayers of the rest of the fans with as good a penalty shoot-out as any goalkeeper could have done.
He saved all three Slovenian shots from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbič. He cried afterwards too.
Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva also scored for Portugal as they sealed the shootout 3-0 with two shots to spare.
Portugal will face France in the quarter-finals on Friday in Hamburg, a rematch of the 2016 final which Portugal won in Paris after Ronaldo left the match injured early in the game.
