Although Portugal eliminated Slovenia via a penalty shootout, the Spanish newspaper Marca believes that Portugal’s legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo experienced his most dismal night of his career. Despite being the team’s offensive core and always occupying a starting position, Ronaldo failed to score in this key matchup against Slovenia, making this his fourth consecutive European Championship match without a goal, which is quite embarrassing for his statistics.
The most memorable moment of the game occurred in the 105th minute when Oblak brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s penalty kick. Ronaldo cried after missing the penalty, and his mother also shed tears in the stands. Marca believes that this moment vividly depicts the struggles of a 39-year-old veteran in the twilight of his career, as well as the collective heartache of countless fans witnessing their idol’s decline.
Despite Ronaldo’s disappointing performance, his teammates still went all out to create opportunities for him. No matter how difficult the pass or how unsatisfactory the decision, they tried to pass the ball to the captain wearing the No. 7 jersey. Ronaldo was burdened with the responsibility of scoring, but in this match, he not only missed a penalty but also set a record for the most free kicks taken in a single European Championship game (4), but despite his repeated attempts, he failed to find the back of the net.
Despite this, Ronaldo did not give up. In the penalty shootout, he bravely took the responsibility of taking the first penalty, hoping to lead Portugal to victory. Although he scored, Oblak guessed the direction correctly. After scoring the penalty, Ronaldo did not celebrate, but instead folded his hands to apologize to Portugal’s fans.
Despite Ronaldo’s heaviest night in his career, Portugal eventually managed to advance to the round of 16 in the European Championship.
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/5820.html
