A thrilling round-of-16 matchup between Portugal and Slovenia saw the 2016 European Champions finally get the better in the penalty shootout. As expected, Portugal dominated possession but was met by a rock-solid Slovenian defense on every occasion. Roberto Martinez’s side came out victorious in the shootout with a 3-0 margin and will now face France in the quarters.
Slovenia has its captain, Jan Oblak to thank for taking the nation all the way beyond extra-time. The Atletico Madrid hero kept out a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half of extra-time, which was only one of his several splendid saves throughout the game. Slovenia will be gutted to exit the UEFA Euro Cup 2024 but can be proud of its efforts and performances.
Diogo Costa becomes the hero for Portugal
The majority of the viewers and supporters had their money on Slovenia going all the way and beating Portugal in the penalty shootout. Portuguese goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, however, had no intention of letting that happen. The Porto man looked ever so confident and turned up for the decisive moments as the hero for his country. “We must congratulate our goalkeeper, he did it”, Ronaldo made sure to appreciate Costa for his splendid showing.
In the end, three penalties were all it took for Slovenia to be knocked out, owing to Costa’s brilliance. The 24-year-old shot-stopper saved all three attempts by the Slovenians, guessing the right way on every instance. He did a tremendous job of keeping at least one of his feet on the line, thereby not going against the rule book. Costa’s excellence would have surely caught the eyes of top clubs around Europe, who will be battling out for his signature in the coming months.
A sigh of relief for Cristiano Ronaldo
The qualification to the quarter-finals will not mean more to anyone else than Cristiano Ronaldo. The record goalscorer in international matches had a plethora of chances to give Portugal the lead. The Al-Nassr man was visibly determined to open his Euro 2024 account against Slovenia and was at the end of several near chances.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had a golden opportunity to get his first goal in the tournament from 12 yards. Remarkably, though, Ronaldo failed to convert which left the soccer community perplexed. Cristiano Ronaldo could not control his emotions after his failure but came back stronger. He took the responsibility to take Portugal’s first kick in the penalty shootout and he was not to be denied for a second time.