The last moments are always special. And, how special this 'last Euros' for Cristiano Ronaldo is, was visible in his tears rolling down the cheeks when Portugal made its ways to the quarter-finals at the 2024 UEFA European Championship in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw on Tuesday in Frankfurt. (More Football News)
Bernardo Silva successfully converted the decisive penalty kick as Portugal won the shoot-out 3-0 after the extra time. Ronaldo scored his and Portugal's first, with Bruno Fernandes netting too. However, what stopped the show was when the captain missed the spot kick at the end of the first period of the extra-time; his tears could not stop, for he knew that if not today, not ever again.
The last time Portugal ended up in a penatly shootout in the Euros was in 2016 June against Poland in the quarterfinals match.
On Tuesday, if Portugal had lost the match, the 39-year-old legendary footballer would have ended his sixth and last European Championship campaign in the most heartbreaking manner.
Credit is due to Diogo Costa, who not only saved all three penalty shootouts for Portugal against Slovenia, but also created history in the Euros to achieve the feat for the first time. Now the team will face France in their UEFA Euro 2024 quarterfinals match on July 6.
In the post match interview, after Portugal saved themselves from the humiliating exit, Cristiano Ronaldo with teary eyes said, "Even the strongest people have their [bad] days. I was at rock bottom when the team needed me the most."
"Sadness at the start is joy at the end. That's what football is. Moments, inexplicable moments. I feel sad and happy at the same time."
"But the important thing is to enjoy it. The team did an extraordinary job. We fought right to the end and I think we deserved it because we had more authority."
The 120 minutes at the Frankfurt Arena on the night of July 1, 2024, will forever be etched in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Cristiano Ronaldo's fans, who witnessed tears of despair transform into tears of joy and their star battling, both physically and emotionally.
