Euro24 : Diego Costa saves in tiebreaker takes Portugal to QF after Ronaldo penalty miss in extra time

 

Missed the penalty and cried.  Apologized by scoring the tiebreaker.  Goalkeeper Diogo Costa saved Portugal's honour during Cristiano Ronaldo's night of tears and laughter in Frankfurt on Monday.  His three saves in the tiebreaker sent Portugal into the quarterfinals.  Neither team could score in the allotted time.  Ronaldo's team won the tiebreaker 3-0.  Apart from Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva scored in the tiebreaker.  Portugal will play against France in the quarter finals.

 Ronaldo played 120 minutes in the whole match.  Received four free kicks in the match.  Three of them are in their own 'area'.  Ronaldo could not score in any of them.  Not only that, he cried after missing a penalty in the first half of extra time.  Despite 15 minutes left in the game.  However, scoring a tiebreaker finally put a smile on Ronaldo's face.  Costa made that smile even wider.  He saved Slovenia's first three shots in the tiebreaker.

 Portugal went down with only one goal against Slovenia.  Attack by attack to take the opponent's breath away.  That's what they were doing from the beginning.  Cristiano Ronaldo appealed for a penalty in eight minutes.  Darkusic snatched the ball before Rafael Liao's pass went to Ronaldo.  Ronaldo fell into the box after handling the ball.  The referee didn't care.

 Portugal went on the attack playing multiple passes between themselves, but they could not shake Slovenia's defense.  Close to the box, Portugal's attack was stalling.  Not only that, but they were sometimes getting up in every attack, worrying Portugal.  Darkusic kept Ronaldo in tight marking.  He was not letting the Portuguese captain move.  In between, Ronaldo got a chance after 30 minutes.  Vitinha picked up a cross.  But Ronaldo's header went straight to Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Four minutes later Portugal got a free kick outside the box.  Derkusic fouled Liao.  Ronaldo got a free kick inside his own area.  His shot went an inch over the crossbar.  If it was in the goal, maybe the goalkeeper would have nothing to do.  After that, Ronaldo became increasingly aggressive.  Four minutes later, Portugal got another free kick just outside the box.  This time, however, Ronaldo's shot was not close to the goal.

 From the beginning of the second half, Portugal had more power.  But this time Slovenia was not talking about leaving.  Once Portugal went on the attack, Slovenia was on the mend.  In the 54th minute, Portugal got a free kick in a good place.  Ronaldo took a strong shot after running a lot.  Oblak stood in the right place.  Fisted the ball.

 Slovenia looked like they wouldn't give up without a fight.   They rose to every attack when they got the chance.  Once Cescó squandered an easy chance.  Portugal could not break Slovenia's defense at all.  Diogo Jota extended a good pass to Ronaldo late in the period.  Ronaldo's left-footed shot goes straight to Oblak.  At the end of the game, the players of both teams made several attacks, but no goal came.

After the start of extra time, Portugal's footballers started to look tired.  Slovenia looked very confident there.  Portugal get a penalty late in the first half of extra time.  Darkusic intercepted Jota after breaking into the box.  Ronaldo went to take the penalty.  The goalkeeper, on the other hand, has played for a long time at Atletico Madrid.  Knew Ronaldo well during his spells at Real Madrid and Juventus.  He saved Ronaldo's shot by jumping to the left.

 Ronaldo covered his face with his hand after missing.  Tears can be seen in his eyes when he moves his hand.  The Portuguese captain could not stop crying even though his teammates rushed to console him.  There are still 15 minutes left in the match.  Portugal still had a chance.  It was not understood by Ronaldo's tears.  It seemed that his team had departed.

 Slovenia had the easiest chance of the match after 115 minutes.  The ball slips off Pepe's feet while making a pass.  Sesko was in front.  He continued to move forward with the ball.  There was no one but Portugal's goalkeeper alone in front.  Cesco shot from the corner.  Diogo Costa saved that shot with his left foot.

Then came the tiebreaker with Portugal scoring in all their 3 attempts they needed & Ronaldo scoring in shootout while Diego Costa effected 3 breathtaking diving saves to deny Slovenia a spot in the quarters & rescuing Portugal