Portugal suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Slovenia at the end of the night. Ronaldo went from crying to happy.
Our analysis and the most beautiful pictures of the meeting.
In a match (which will be a continuation of their group stage matches), where they had most of the ball, the Portuguese will once again have great difficulty against an opponent who played low. The fault lies in the rigidity of this Slovenian block, determined to let their opponent come in the hope of facing them on the counterattack. The fault also lies in the sometimes predictable and stereotypical game and in the poor finishing of the match by the Lusitanian team.
Roberto Martinez's players dominated the match, often denying the Slovenians the ball, but they failed to take advantage of the opportunities that came their way.
First, in the 13th minute, Bernardo Silva sent a great cross that neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Bruno Fernandes could clear. Bruno Fernandes (25) and Cristiano Ronaldo (31 and 34) saw their attempts cancelled by the excellent goalkeeper Oblak, who was saved by the post in stoppage time in the first act with a beautiful shot from Palhinha.
The second half starts like the first, with the Reds having the ball and pushing but facing the Slovenian defence or Oblak (55th from a CR7 free kick).
Once the hour had passed, Slovenia players began to threaten with counterattacks, in the 62nd minute, Cesko won but his shot was off target, then in the 68th minute, Sporar made a mistake by Diogo Costa.
At the end of regular time, Cristiano got the match point (90) which Bernardo Silva shot well, to advance ahead of Oblak who wins the duel and sends the match to extra time.
Then the scenario becomes Hitchcockian! In fact, the Portuguese got a penalty in the 105th minute for a foul on Diogo Jota, but Imperial Oblak calmed down well after CR7's shot. The “Seleção” captain seems to be very mentally affected by his failure, he cries in the first half of extra time!
Then we see the disaster scenario happen on the Portuguese side when Pepe loses the ball in the 115th minute in a childish way, and sees Cesco alone in front of the goal and scores in front of Diogo Costa who saves his team!
The goalkeeper even becomes the hero of the match a few minutes later, saving all three of the Slovenian's shots on goal (while CR7, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva score)! Portugal qualified in pain and joined France in the quarter-finals.
Roy Fernandez
(Reuters photos)
Portugal beat Slovenia on penalties (3-0)
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Joao Cancelo (Semedo 117), Ruben Dias, Pepe (Ruben Neves 118), Nuno Mendes, Vitinha (Diogo Jota 65), Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao (Conceicao 76), Cristiano Ronaldo. In: Martinez.
Slovenia: Oblak, Karnicnik, Drkosic, Bigol, Balkovic, Stojanovic (87' Ferbe), Gnezda, Ilsnik (Ilicic, 106'), Melkar (Stankovic, 74'), Sporar (Kolar, 74'), Sesko. Enter: Kek.
