Cristiano Ronaldo and his mother were left in tears after he missed a penalty as Portugal beat Slovenia in the last 16 of Euro 2024.
Teammates console Cristiano Ronaldo after missing penalty at Euro 2024 – Photo: Getty
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal had a tough match against Slovenia in the round of 16 of Euro 2024. The two teams drew 0-0 after more than 90 minutes and had to go into two extra halves.
The turning point seemed to have come when Portugal were awarded a penalty in extra time, when Diogo Jota was fouled in the box. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty but his shot was blocked by Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Cristiano Ronaldo then burst into tears, with pictures showing his mother also in tears in the stands. Several of Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammates gathered around to cheer him up. The 39-year-old star failed to score in the group stage of Euro 2024. This is the first time in his career that this has happened at a major international tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer. Since making his international debut in 2003 at the age of 18, he has made over 200 appearances and scored 130 goals.
At Euro 2024, Cristiano Ronaldo set many records such as: First player to play in 6 Euro tournaments, player with the most assists in Euro tournaments. However, he still could not score a goal to become the oldest player to score in Euro.
Portugal fans were quick to express their support for the Al Nassr striker. One fan wrote: “Ronaldo is in tears, I feel sorry for him. He is clearly under a lot of pressure.”
While another wrote: “There’s nothing worse for a football fan than seeing their favourite player miss a penalty at a major tournament. Ronaldo crying is understandable.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is also the most popular player at Euro 2024. During the match against Turkey in the group stage, many fans ran onto the pitch to ask for selfies with him, causing the match to be interrupted. Because of this, UEFA fined the German Football Federation up to 20,000 euros.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo missed an important penalty, Portugal still defeated Slovenia 3-0 in a penalty shootout to win a ticket to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 .
