In a thrilling match between Portugal and Slovenia in the round of 16, goalkeeper Diogo Costa stopped all three penalties as Portugal emerged victorious 3-0 in a shootout. Earlier in the day, Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty kick in extra time had held Slovenia to a 0-0 draw.
Portugal enjoyed the majority of the chances, but they also had their custodian to thank for stopping Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko one-on-one as the lucky team advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal match against France in Hamburg.
Costa put in a mostly lacklustre performance, saving from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec, and Benjamin Verbic in the shootout to advance his team to the next round.
The focus will be on Ronaldo in especially because he missed multiple chances and needed teammates to comfort him after missing a penalty in extra time, leaving him inconsolable.
Late in the first half of extra time, Portugal was granted a spot kick when defender Vanja Drkusic, who had previously been cautioned and was fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card, blocked Diogo Jota’s charging run into the area.
Although they have a dependable penalty taker in Bruno Fernandes, captain Ronaldo chose to take it, and Slovenia’s Jan Oblak brilliantly saved it to his left, pushing the ball against the post.
Slovenia had few options when it came to tactics, so they would pass the ball long to strikers Andraz Sporar and Sesko in an attempt to get anything done.
However, it was a successful ploy as Sesko got two one-on-one opportunities during the game as a result of blunders made by Pepê; however, Costa made a great stop on his first attempt.
To Ronaldo’s relief, Sesko’s team faltered in the face of superb goalkeeping throughout the shootout, and the second of those misses will undoubtedly haunt him.
Slovenia returns home after four draws in Germany, although they made it to the major tournament knockout stages for the first time ever.
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