Portugal’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa shut down three penalties in the shootout, knocking out a tenacious Slovenia 3-0 in their Euro 2024 Round of 16 clash at Frankfurt’s Deutsche-Bank-Park on Monday.
From the get-go, Portugal hogged possession, pushing Slovenia onto the ropes in the initial minutes.
Yet, Robert Martinez’s squad found it tough to capitalize on their early dominance. Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes both squandered golden opportunities from close range.
Slovenia’s defense held firm, with every player dropping back. Ronaldo, given a tasty free-kick opportunity around the half-hour mark, skyed his shot over.
Near the first half’s end, Slovenia almost caught Portugal napping. Petar Stojanovic, instead of shooting, opted for a safer square pass.
Into the second half, Portugal stayed the more aggressive outfit, whereas Slovenia largely played it safe.
Slovenia’s shot-stopper, Jan Oblak, was the bane of Ronaldo’s existence, defusing a free kick in the 55th minute and a dangerous long-range effort later on.
Extra time saw Ronaldo with a prime chance to score after Diogo was fouled in the box, but Oblak stymied him from the penalty spot in the 105th minute.
Slovenia came alive briefly in the 115th minute but bungled a crucial chance when Benjamin Sesko couldn’t outfox Costa in a one-on-one shuffle.
The match headed to a penalty shootout after a goalless 120 minutes. Ronaldo finally pierced Oblak’s defense to kick off the scoring.
Diogo Costa then donned the hero’s cape, blocking penalties from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec, and Benjamin Verbic. Bernardo Silva capped off the win with a crisp shot.
As a result, Portugal is slated to face France in the quarterfinals at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion.
“I was swinging from sadness to joy—rollercoaster of emotions, but that’s football. It’s do or die. I gave my all but came up short. Oblak was stellar today. We had to slog, but we got through. I believe it was well-earned; Slovenia just defended,” said Ronaldo.
