When Cristiano Ronaldo had already started to cry, like when Morocco kicked Portugal out of their last World Cup, a hero with gloves came to the rescue, the new Dibu Martinez from Qatar, another Iker from South Africa. Oblak had saved a penalty from CR7 in the first half of extra time. Eight years after being in the shootout of the Champions League final in Milan and seeing the ball go in from his left while he dived to the other side, this time he chose the left and there was again the Portuguese shot, from which tears began to flow. He still had traces of tears left when Sesko stood alone against Diogo Costa, who extended his foot and sent the tie to penalties, where he extended Cristiano’s life in the elite a little longer with three saves. Portugal beat first-timers Slovenia on the way and will face France in the quarterfinals on Friday, almost as disappointing in their play as Roberto Martinez’s team.
0
(3)
Diogo Costa, Nuno Mendes, Ruben Dias, Pepe (Ruben Neves, min. 116), Joao Cancelo (Nelson Semedo, min. 116), Rafael Leon (Francisco Conceicao, min. 75), Vitinha (Diogo Jota, min. 64), Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Palhinha and Cristiano Ronaldo
0
(0)
Jan Oblak, Jaka Bijol, Vanja Drkusic, Jure Balkovec, Zan Karnicnik, Adam Gnezda Cerin, Timi Max Elsnik (Josip Ilicic, min. 105), Petar Stojanovic (Benjamin Verbic, min. 85), Jan Mlakar (Jon Gorenc Stankovic, min. 73), Andraz Sporar (Zan Celar, min. 74) and Benjamin Sesko
Penalties:
1-0. Cristiano. 2-0. Bruno Fernandes. 3-0. Bernardo Silva.
Referee Daniele Orsato
Vanja Drkusic (min. 31), Zan Karnicnik (min. 36), Gorenc-Stankovic (min. 100), Jaka Bijol (min. 105), Jure Balkovec (min. 106), Cancelo (min. 106)
The match that was set to be a tearful drama, with Cristiano’s mother also in shock in the stands, ended with the crowning glory of the Porto goalkeeper, the first to save three penalties in a shootout in the entire history of the European Championship.
Only a feat of such calibre could slightly alter the gravitational force exerted by Cristiano Ronaldo, an unavoidable pull even in his twilight years. It is difficult to discern whether when you go to the Frankfurt Arena you are going to the round of 16 of your national team or to say goodbye to a legend. From several hours before the start, cries of “Siuuu” are lit around the stadium like little fires. Like greetings from a not-so-secret brotherhood that gathers for a final ceremony, or perhaps the penultimate one. With a huge appetite for any gesture to remember.
Cristiano is not the same as before, of course, but the fascination has added to that last chance point. Everyone celebrates everything. And everything, in his case, is almost constant. Except for the penalty. Until that agonizing moment, the Portuguese fans get excited when he almost completes a backheel on a counterattack, when he almost manages to head a cross that flies a few centimeters over his head, when he almost finishes in the area, when they think he almost convinces the referee to whistle a penalty. As the farewells approach, life is increasingly an almost.
It’s not just the public that seems willing to celebrate anything. His teammates are also willing to grant him his last whims. Like one of those free kicks from the side that always begs to be turned into a cross into the box, unless it’s taken by Real Madrid’s Cristiano in 2012 against Apoel Nicosia in the Champions League. Or that the Cristiano of today is chasing the title of the oldest scorer in the history of the European Championships, which is still Modric.
Apart from their casses, Portugal showed little more than control. It was a control like loose pieces, disjointed, that did not flow, only when the ball circulated between Vitinha, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes. Even Leão, or João Cancelo, escapee on the other side. The next step was CR7 and that was when they got stuck. Portugal’s game glided with a little more ease away from him, but that was also hovering far from the goal. And the goal, like Cristiano Ronaldo, is unavoidable. How can we not live around them? Although more and more voices are appearing that point out the decline of the star, and the threat that his influence will affect the whole team. As long as he remains, he is the end all, the thrower of all the fouls.
Slovenia, who were making their first European Championship last 16 appearances, had built a tight structure that could withstand all chances, including attacks from Leão and Cancelo down the flanks. They had a plan: to exploit the space left behind by the almost perpetual attack of the Portuguese team to find a run for Sesko. Before the cleanest one, they had another, with nothing in front of them but Costa, with Pepe and his 41 years chasing him. On his first day out of work after his contract expired on June 30, the veteran centre-back managed to reduce the lead and force him into a shot that went wide. If Cristiano almost wants to remember Cristiano, Pepe almost makes us forget that he has been here for more than two decades. Although the night in Frankfurt will actually go down as the one in which CR7 almost died, but in which Diogo Costa appeared as the enlightened one of all time to see if the legend says goodbye to his last Euro Cup against Mbappé.
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