Martinez hails tearful Ronaldo after Portugal shoot-out win over Slovenia

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez praised Cristiano Ronaldo after a roller-coaster night against Slovenia in which the captain missed a penalty in extra time and then scored in a 3-0 shoot-out win to help take them into the quarterfinals at Euro 2024.

Ronaldo was left in tears after his extra-time spot-kick miss left the score at 0-0 but redeemed himself by scoring with the first kick of the shoot-out before goalkeeper Diogo Costa then saved three penalties to send Portugal through.

“He [Ronaldo] 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. I was certain he had to be the first penalty taker and show us the way to the victory,” Martinez said.

“I think we all felt very proud of our captain. The dressing room was delighted with what he's doing. I think he gave us all a lesson, that you need to live every day as if it's the last one.

“You need to have real high standards and never give up — life and football gives you difficult moments, and the way he reacted is a real example that we are very proud of in Portuguese football.”

After a tough 120 minutes and the emotion of the shoot-out, Martinez and Portugal face a quick turnaround as they next prepare to meet France, who earlier beat Belgium 1-0 in their last-16 tie, in Hamburg on Friday.

“We don't want days off, we want to be here, now we're focused and focused on France ... this Euros is red-hot, and three days is enough to get ready for the next game,” Martinez said.

“France are very strong and things tend to get harder defensively, but in the attack maybe there's more space behind the lines. So this is a stronger opponent and they can cause more issues, but it's a better opponent because you'll have more chances.”

Bernardo Silva struck the winning spot-kick after Costa's three earned Portugal their 3-0 shoot-out win against battling Slovenia.

After a scoreless 90 minutes, Ronaldo had a chance to put Portugal ahead from the penalty spot in the first half of extra time, but Jan Oblak saved brilliantly to leave the Portuguese captain in tears.

Neither side could fashion a goal and the game went to penalties, with Josep Ilicic having the first kick saved for the Slovenians before Ronaldo put his side ahead, and when Jure Balkovec's spot-kick was saved the writing was on the wall.

Costa then saved from Benjamin Verbic, setting Silva up to confidently slot home the winner to put Portugal through to the last eight and a meeting with the French in Hamburg on Friday. 

Reuters