Cristiano Ronaldo reacted to shedding tears during Portugal’s Euro 2024 clash against Slovenia and then scoring a penalty in the shoot-out victory by calling them “inexplicable moments”.
Ronaldo was cast in the role of villain after missing a series of chances and having his extra-time penalty saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the scoreless encounter.
The 39-year-old was in tears during the extra-time break and consoled by team-mates, but he converted a spot-kick in the ensuing shoot-out as Diogo Costa saved all three Slovenia penalties and Portugal won 3-0.
Momentos inexplicáveis. Vamos dar tudo! Obrigado, 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/DoYEq1gPqp
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) July 1, 2024
“Even the strongest people have their (bad) days,” Ronaldo told reporters after the game.
“I was at rock bottom when the team needed me most. I was sad at first but now I’m happy.
“That’s what football is. Moments, inexplicable moments.”
Asked about his outpouring of emotions during the match, Ronaldo replied: “When I think of my family, I feel emotional because they are unique moments that I cannot express in words.
“They are people I love, the fans who are always with us and especially with me, and I am very happy about that.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores in the penalty shoot-out against Slovenia (Bradley Collyer/PA)
“I hadn’t missed a penalty kick all year. At this moment I missed it, but the most important thing is that the team won.
“I lost twice on penalties this season and won the third time. Sometimes football is fair and sometimes just, but we we deserved to qualify.
“I will always give my best for this shirt, whether I fail or not, but you have to take responsibility when the team has to.
“I have never been afraid to face things head on. Sometimes I do things right, sometimes I don’t, but giving up is something you will never hear from me.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is consoled by Diogo Dalot at half-time of extra-time after being denied from the penalty spot (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Portugal’s win took them through to a quarter-final tie against France – 1-0 winners over Belgium – in Hamburg on Friday.
Head coach Roberto Martinez hailed Ronaldo’s resilience after Oblak had denied him in extra time with a magnificent penalty save.
Martinez said: “He’s a constant example for us. Those emotions are incredible because he’s won everything and experienced experienced everything.
“He doesn’t need to care that much and that’s why I thank him for being the way he is, for caring for the group, for being someone after missing a penalty that he was the first penalty taker (in the shoot-out).
“I was certain he had to be the first penalty-taker and show us the way to the victory.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel