The Portuguese national team beat Slovenia on penalties (3-0), after a 0-0 draw, in which Cristiano Ronaldo had a penalty shot saved during the first half of extra timeand advanced to the next round in the Eurocup which is being played in Germany.
Diogo Costa saved all three penalties (Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic) and the “Bicho” redeemed himself from his first penalty, Bruno Fernandez and Bernardo Silva They gave the victory to their own.
The “Lusos” will face France in the quarter-finals, after fighting and winning on penalties against one of the best third-placed teams, Slovenia.
The team led by the Spaniard Roberto Martinez finished the group stage with six points after victories against the Czech Republic (2-1) and Turkey (3-0) and a surprise defeat against Georgia by 2-0.
The Portuguese team again repeated the team that beat Turkey, of which only three players had remained in the starting eleven after the change against Georgia (Diogo Costa, Joao Palhinha and Cristiano Ronaldo).
Portugal dominated almost the entire match and kept possession of the ball for most of the game. They quickly reached danger thanks to Cristiano Ronaldoafter crosses from Manchester City player Bernardo Silva, who managed to get past the Slovenian flanks.
By the 25th minute of play, Slovenia had the ball and was able to defend itself by holding it and stop being attacked by its rival.
It was only in the 43rd minute of the first half that Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko challenged Diogo Costa, who had not been threatening his goal until then. In the 47th minute, towards the end of the first half, Palhinha received the ball in the half-moon and shot across the goal, hitting the post.
In the second half things did not change and Portugal continued to dominate his Slovenian counterpart. Ten minutes in, the “Bicho” finished off a free kick that burned the hands of Jan Oblak by rejecting the Portuguese player’s attempt.
Just like in the first half, Slovenia He had another chance with Sesko, who escaped from Pepe’s mark and beat him in speed, but he couldn’t define well and shot wide.
As the minutes went by, the match became more even again and only in the final minutes did Cristiano Ronaldo have the chance to take the win, but Oblak He told him no, sending the match into overtime.
With five minutes remaining, Portuguese forward Pepe made a mistake and gave the ball to Benjamin Sesko, who went one-on-one against Costa and shot at the far post, but the goalkeeper’s leg held the scoreline and sent the match to penalties.
Portugal came out strong in the penalty shootout and overcame a difficult task after 120 minutes.
They will now face France on Friday, July 5, in the quarter-finals, and the winner will face the winner of the match between host Germany and Spain in the semi-finals.
The penalty that was saved from Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal vs Slovenia
The penalty shootout in Portugal vs Slovenia
Source: Ambito
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