Portugal faced Slovenia in the remaining 16 matches of EURO 2024, and after a penalty shootout, they won 3-0 thanks to a save from goalkeeper Diogo Costa, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Portugal dominated the game in both first half, with Slovenia looking to create danger on the counter attack but not having much success in this regard throughout the match, and despite dominating the ball, Portugal were unable to create any clear goal positions.
The 90 minutes were stagnant and unexciting apart from some great saves from Jan Oblak, who denied Ronaldo in several positions, but the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Just before the end of the first period of extra time, Ronaldo tried to convert a penalty Portugal had won at goalkeeper Jan Oblak, but then in the 115th minute, Benjamin Cesco failed to get past goalkeeper Diogo Costa in a face-off position, and the game was decided by a penalty.
Portugal’s goalkeeper Costa made some great saves in the penalty shootout to guide Portugal to the quarter-finals, where they will face France, the team that eliminated Belgium, on Friday, 5 July.
Oblak didn’t give the pass to Ronaldo.
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was confronted by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak on multiple occasions throughout the match.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo took the free kick for Portugal, but his shot on target was caught by Oblak. Ronaldo took six shots on the Slovenia goal, hitting three and becoming the Portuguese player with the most attempts on the opposition goal in the match.
Ronaldo misses penalty at 150
Ronaldo, who was unable to pass Oblak during normal time, also missed a penalty in the first period of extra time.
Portugal were awarded a penalty when Jota dropped back and the ball was placed in the hands of the 39-year-old Ronaldo, who fired a shot to Oblak’s left but couldn’t get it past the Slovenian goalkeeper.
Cristiano Ronaldo could not hold back the tears as the first period of extra time ended with a missed penalty.
Sesco couldn’t kick at 115!
Slovenia had little success creating goal positions against Portugal and were unable to take advantage of a chance through Benjamin Cesco in the 115th minute.
Pepe struggled to control a long ball from Oblak and misplayed the ball, and Sesco stepped in and ran with the ball. Facing goalkeeper Diogo Costa, Sesco tripped Costa with his shot and failed to convert a 100% goal opportunity.
Diogo Costa made his mark
The star of the match, which went to a penalty shootout, was Portugal’s goalkeeper, Diogo Costa.
Costa saved penalties from Josip Ilicic, Benjamin Verbic and Jure Balkovec in Slovenia and played a leading role in Portugal’s run to the quarter-finals.
For Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva made no mistakes in the penalty shootout.
