What happened on Monday night in Frankfurt is sensational, but in the end there are few surprises because in the quarter-finals of theEuropean there goes the Portugal and not the Sloveniaas was predictable. The film of the match, however, is anything but banal, with the Portuguese pushing, not breaking through and forced into extra time. At 104′ the penalty for Martinez’s national team seems like the right chance to write the final word on the match, but CR7 makes a sensational mistake, having his shot saved by Oblak and bursting into tears. At 114′ Sesko misses the 1-0 one-on-one with Diogo Costa, the match therefore ends with penalty kicks: the Portugal goalkeeper is superb, rejects three penalties and drags his team to the next round. From the spot Ronaldo, who with great personality does not shirk his responsibilities, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva are perfect.
The best of the Portugal it is without a doubt Diogo Costadecisive both in extra time and in the final penalty shootout, while the worst was Leao, who received a 5.5 just like his replacement Conceiçao. Cancelo and Bernardo Silva did well, while CR7 also managed to pass, redeeming himself like a true champion. For Slovenia, the MVP was Oblak, who will be praised less than Ronaldo will be criticized, but who performed a real miracle on the former Real Madrid player’s shot. Also worth mentioning was Bijol, who was very attentive in the defensive phase, while Sesko paid for his weak shot that in hindsight could have changed the outcome of the match.
The first to appear at the microphones after the match was Ronaldowho shows all his humanity and explains the emotions experienced on one of the most particular nights of his endless legendary career: “I felt sad but then happy at the end… This is football. I have experienced incredible and inexplicable moments, I could have put my team ahead but I didn’t finish. Oblak made an extraordinary save, the penalty didn’t seem that bad to me but I missed. I felt sad there, but the most important thing is to be able to enjoy going through to the next round. The team did an incredible job and fought very well: Slovenia was well positioned and put us in difficulty. And then our goalkeeper made three wonderful saves”. Who knows, maybe it will prove decisive against France, Portugal’s next challenger at the European Championship.