Portugal beat Slovenia on penalties to face France in quarter-finals

Winner on penalties (0-0, 3-0 on penalties) against Slovenia on Monday in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, Portugal will face the French team on Friday for the quarter-finals.

We know the future opponent of the Blues. In a very sluggish round of 16, Portugal managed to win, Monday July 1st, at the end of the suspense and after the penalty shootout (0-0, 3-0 on penalties) against Slovenia, in Frankfurt. Roberto Martinez’s men will thus face the French team in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, winner 1-0 over Belgium, Friday at 9 p.m., in a remake of the Euro 2016 final.

After 120 minutes of fighting, the Portuguese saw their fate change thanks to Diogo Costa, FC Porto goalkeeper, who managed the feat of stopping the first three Slovenian penalty kicks. A performance never before achieved in a Euro. On the other side, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva did not tremble in front of the Slovenian goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, despite having saved a penalty in front of the Seleçao captain during the match. The trio of leaders thus sends Portugal to the quarter-finals of a Euro for the eighth time in its history.

But if Diogo Costa put on his cape at the very end of the match, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who wanted to play the hero for 120 minutes. Author of countless misses during the match, the Portuguese captain was especially the one who missed the decisive penalty in the 105th minute. Enough to move the number 7 to tears, frustrated. He would make up for it during the penalty shootout, choosing the other side and putting Portugal in front as the first shooter.

The player who has just celebrated his 39th birthday was at the heart of the chances attempted by the Seleçao, too short to head in Bernardo Silva’s cross (13th), grazing the crossbar on a free kick (34th) or stumbling over Jan Oblak (55th, 89th). The Al-Nassr striker did not find the back of the net, but was able to show himself to be the protagonist of a Portuguese attack that was often stereotyped, partly through his own fault.

In total, Cristiano Ronaldo took his chances four times from free kicks, with only one on target. The other Portuguese players did not seem more inspired, except for Palhinha’s low shot that crashed against the post (45th + 3), or a shot at the near post from Bernardo Silva after a number from Joao Cancelo, sparkling in his corridor, which ended in the sky of Frankfurt (47th).

Slovenia leave Germany without having won a single match, managing to reach the round of 16 after three draws in the group stage. Largely dominated, the Balkan country only had one shot on target in 90 minutes, on a one-on-one between Benjamin Sesko and Diogo Costa, who crossed his shot too much (61st).

The RB Leipzig striker even had another chance in the 115th minute, when Pepe missed his control under pressure from Zan Celar. But this time Sesko came up against the Portuguese goalkeeper. The 21-year-old came very close to a historic victory, with Slovenia accumulating seven draws and one defeat in two editions (2000 and 2024).