Portugal were held to a 0-0 draw by Slovenia after 120 minutes of play and won 3-0 in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 to set up a quarter-final against France. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo missed a number of big chances. Ronaldo also burst into tears after Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved his penalty at the end of the first period of extra time.

(PLO)- After 120 minutes of play, Portugal and Slovenia decided the winner by penalty shootout. On a day of excellent performance, goalkeeper Costa successfully blocked 3 Slovenian shots to help Portugal win a ticket to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.

Cristiano Ronaldo recalls the “inexplicable” moments he experienced on a memorable evening in Frankfurt that saw him miss a number of chances and burst into tears, leaving his teammates to console him.

Ronaldo missed a penalty . PHOTO: GETTY

Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa was the hero later on, saving three Slovenian penalties to send his team through. Ronaldo himself was also in fine form, taking the first penalty after missing the penalty in extra time.

After the match, Cristiano Ronaldo shared with Portuguese television: “Sadness at the beginning is joy at the end. That’s football . Moments, inexplicable moments.”

Speaking about his missed penalty, Ronaldo said: “A penalty would have put the team ahead but I couldn’t make it. Oblak made a great save. I had to watch the penalty, I don’t know if it was a good or bad shot, but I haven’t missed a single one this year, and when I needed it most, Oblak saved it.

I think Portugal deserved to win because we had more possession. Slovenia spent almost the whole game defending, which was very difficult and the whole team should be congratulated, especially our goalkeeper who made three great saves.”

Ronaldo burst into tears after missing a penalty. PHOTO: GETTY

Finally, Ronaldo added: “Portugal were always dominant, pressing hard, but for one reason or another, they couldn’t score. The pitch was not good, it was difficult to play but I think in the end, we played better. We deserved to be in the quarter-finals.

We are still very excited, we want to enjoy our game, bring joy and happiness to the fans and this is our life. This is how we live.”

Ronaldo is still without a goal at Euro 2024 after missing a penalty against Slovenia. PHOTO: GETTY

Meanwhile, Slovenia goalkeeper Oblak said: “Unfortunately, things did n’t go as expected. I don’t know what to say, the atmosphere here is amazing and that’s what makes it so much more difficult.

There is nothing more to say, especially a few minutes after it happened. You saw what happened in extra time, we had chances to score, but maybe we were a little bit unlucky. In the end, Portugal deserved to win. Congratulations to them.

Having said that, we are not happy with the result. With all the effort we put in to get to the quarter-finals, we did not make it. Congratulations to Portugal, those were really difficult moments.”