Cristiano Ronaldo fluffed his lines for Portugal against Slovenia.
Cristiano Ronaldo burst into tears after missing a penalty for Portugal against Slovenia. On what proved a nightmare night for the 39-year-old, his frustration was compounded in extra time when his effort from 12 yards was superbly tipped around the post by Jan Oblak.
And the despair proved too much for international football’s record goalscorer.
At the end of the first 15 minute period, Ronaldo could be seen crying uncontrollably as team-mates tried in vain to console him.
Prior to the miss, it had already been an awful evening night for the Real Madrid icon. And to compound matters, he was mocked relentlessly by Slovenia fans after missing a host of opportunities.
On four different occasions during the 90 minutes, ‘CR7’ lined up a free-kick from outside the area, blasting one effort narrowly over in the first half and another embarrassingly wide. In the second period Oblak beat away his third go at a set-piece, before a fourth flew way off-target.
And it was after the latter shot that Slovenia fans mercilessly targeted the icon. They jeered ironically before chanting ‘Messi’ repeatedly, in reference to the perceived rivalry between Ronaldo and the 2022 World Cup winner.
Some supporters were even holding up Argentina shirts during the game. Indeed, with every failed attempt, the jerseys were waved in the stands as the icon’s dismay grew.
But it wasn’t just from set piece situations where Ronaldo endured a nightmare. Three times in the first half he narrowly failed to connect with crosses into the area, and his touch also let him down when he had the chance to bare down on goal in the area.
And shortly before the final whistle in normal time there was another chance to break the deadlock, but he could only fire a left-foot shot straight at Oblak. However, it was Ronaldo and his team-mates who had the last laugh after the tie finished goalless and went to penalties.
After Portugal keeper Diogo Costa saved from Josip Ilicic, Ronaldo was given a shot at redemption. And this time he made no mistake, buring his effort low into the corner.
Costa then proceeded to also save from Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic. And with Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva also converting, Roberto Martinez’s squad progressed to a quarter-final with France.
Ronaldo was quickly over to embrace his keeper, who became the first ever man to save three penalties in a shootout at the European Championships. And in the BBC studio, Gary Lineker praised the character of Ronaldo for bouncing back from his miss.
“Ronaldo’s tears of despair turn to tears of joy,” he said. Alan Shearer added: “You just knew he’d take one with the belief he has in himself.”
The initial miss could have proved disastrous though. Benjamin Sesko had the chance to win it late in extra time for Slovenia, but was denied by Costa when clean through on goal.
Source: Express
