- Cristiano Ronaldo saw his penalty dramatically saved by Jan Oblak in extra time
- The Portugal star was reduced to tears against Slovenia and had to be consoled
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Cristiano Ronaldo told of his ‘sadness’ and ‘joy’ after Portugal reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, beating Slovenia on penalties after he failed to score from the spot during extra-time.
It was an emotional whirl for Ronaldo, who sobbed during the interval in extra-time but regained his focus in time to score Portugal’s first penalty of the shootout, before Diogo Costa made three brilliant penalty saves.
‘Sadness at the start is joy at the end,’ said Ronaldo, whose penalty in extra time was saved by Jan Oblak. ‘That’s what football is. Moments, inexplicable moments.
‘One direct shot to give the team the lead and I didn’t manage it. Oblak made a good save … I will have to see the penalty again. I don’t know if I shot well or badly, but I haven’t missed once all year, and when I needed it most, Oblak saved it.
‘I think Portugal deserved it because we had more authority. Slovenia spent almost the entire game defending. It’s very difficult and the whole team is to be congratulated, especially our goalkeeper who made three very good saves.’
Cristiano Ronaldo opened up on his penalty miss against Slovenia that reduced him to tears
Ronaldo saw his extra time spot kick dramatically saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak
Ronaldo broke down after his effort was stopped and had to be consoled by team-mates
Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva scored their penalties as Costa performed his heroics.
‘It’s football, the one who fails is the one who tries too,’ Ronaldo added to RTP. ‘Obviously it’s a frustration when we can’t score but it’s football.
‘I already forgot [about it] because the end result was positive, we won, it’s the most important thing. Sometimes it’s difficult to score penalties, I’ve scored more than 200 in my career.
‘But I lost twice this year on penalties and today I won. Football sometimes has to be fair and today it was fair because I think Portugal deserved to win.’
Ronaldo bounced back to slot home his spot kick in the penalty shootout as Portugal won 3-0
Roberto Martinez hailed Ronaldo’s ability to recover and spoke about his side’s team spirit
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez added: ‘Ronaldo missed a penalty and then was decisive when he started the penalty shoot-out, he paved the way.
‘It was a victory for unity, from the dressing room and Cristiano is our captain and he showed that in life and in football there are difficult moments and we can’t give up.
‘We have to keep going and it was a demonstration of what to do when things aren’t going well.’
