Clément Pédron, Media365, published on Tuesday July 2, 2024 at 00:07
Ultra-dominant but unable to force the Jan Oblak lock, Portugal needed penalties to escape the trap set by Slovenia. The 2016 European champion will face France this Friday at 9 p.m.
France waited until almost the last moment to eliminate Belgium a few hours earlier. Their future opponent was long in coming but it is indeed Portugal who will challenge France this Friday at 9pm in Hamburg for a place in the semi-finals. The Seleçao had to wait until the penalty shootout to overcome a Slovenian team that was very effective in positioning and organisation but devilishly imprecise in the final move. The 2016 European champion went through all the emotions this Monday evening. He could have wrapped things up in the first half as he was so dominant and dangerous around the area but either his men missed the target or they came up against Jan Oblak. Joao Palhinha, the Portuguese midfielder even hit the post with a clear shot in added time before the break.
In the second half, the same thing. Portugal set a high pace but were unable to force the Slovenian lock. Luckily, the Dragons did not punish them either on the few opportunities they obtained, and especially not Benjamin Sesko. During this match, the one who is announced on the Arsenal side next season had several chances to score, if not qualify, but the Leipzig center forward systematically missed his last move.
The unknown Ronaldo
Present from the beginning to the end of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo crystallized some of the difficulties observed during the encounter. Not in the right tempo, imprecise, slow, the captain of the Seleçao had a hard time justifying his presence on the field but was able to count on the unwavering support of his coach, Roberto Martinez, who did not have the courage to replace him. However, “CR7” would undoubtedly have needed it, especially when we look at his body language… You only had to see his tears after his penalty saved by Oblak during the first period of extra time following a foul by Drkusic on Jota to realize how on edge the former Madrid player was. Luckily, Cristiano Ronaldo would have a second chance during the “real” penalty shootout since five minutes before the final whistle, Benjamin Sesko missed the ball that would qualify him following a failed one-on-one against Diogo Costa after Pepe lost the ball. First striker for the Seleçao, “CR7” did not miss this time and got his team off to a good start before his goalkeeper put on a gala performance with three penalties saved. Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva finished the job for Portugal who will therefore meet France this Friday, in a remake of the Euro 2016 final.
