Diogo Costa and Bernardo Silva celebrate after the penalty shoot-out.
Portugal overcame Slovenia 3-0 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes in their round of 16 clash at UEFA Euro 2024 on Monday, July 1. They progress to the quarter-finals where they will face France On July 5.
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Portugal made a positive start to the contest and dominated possession of the ball as they looked to push Slovenia on the back foot. They passed the ball around with confidence and players swarmed in to retrieve the ball in case of lost possession. They attempted multiple shots in the first half, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed free-kick being the first major attempt.
Rafael Leao showed great athleticism and agility on the left flank to earn that free-kick, and continued making darting runs at Slovenia’s backline. Matjaz Kek’s men had two attempts in the first half, with one on target. Portugal, on the other hand, failed to hit the target with five attempts. Joao Palhinha attempted a driven effort with the last action of the first period but the ball hit the post and went out of play.
Portugal and Slovenia were deadlocked at 0-0 at half-time.
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The second half was a similar story in terms of flow of the game as Portugal dictated terms. Joao Cancelo began to venture further forward and caused Slovenia’s defence a bunch of problems and also created some good chances to score. Portugal attempted eight shots in the second period but were unable to break the deadlock as Jan Oblak was rock solid in Slovenia’s goal.
The game headed towards extra-time with the teams still inseparable at 0-0 after 90 minutes. The first half began in rather uneventful fashion but ended with a stunning save by Oblak. Vanja Drkusic conceded a penalty after a foul on Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take it, but saw his shot saved by the Slovenian captain.
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The second half of extra-time saw Benjamin Sesko presented with a wonderful opportunity to win the game. Pepe made a mistake and gave the ball away as Sesko found himself one on one with Diogo Costa, but fired his shot straight at his body. With the teams still tied at 0-0 after 120 minutes, the game headed to penalties.
Josip Ilicic saw his shot saved by Costa and Ronaldo redeemed himself to give Portugal a 1-0 lead in the shoot-out. Costa made two more saves and Bernardo Silva secured victory after scoring his team’s third penalty to take them through.
