Theo Hernandez scored the winning penalty for France after Portugal’s Joao Felix hit a post in the penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw to send Didier Deschamps’ side into the Euro 2024 semi-finals against Spain.
This time, Cristiano Ronaldo did not shed tears, he who had been overcome by emotion during the round of 16 won by Portugal against Slovenia. Despite his penalty, the 39-year-old player lost his last Euro. He had to console himself at the end of the match with his teammate Pepe, 41.
Cristiano Ronaldo consoles Pepe after Portugal’s Euro 2024 defeat to France
Ronaldo was on the back foot for much of the tight game, although both teams felt they could have won in the second half. Frenchman Mike Maignan made two precise saves to deny Bruno Fernandes and Vitinha before smothering Ronaldo’s subsequent backheel, while Randal Kolo Muani had his shot blocked by Ruben Dias at the other end before Eduardo Camavinga headed wide of the post from close range.
Substitute Ousmane Dembele grazed the post in the dying moments of the 90th minute, but the two recent European champions were cautious in extra time. A half-chance from Ronaldo was turned away by Pepe and Dayot Upamecano who celebrated their counters as goals.
The highlight of the extra time was Kylian Mbappe’s exit at half-time, after taking a blow to the face earlier in the game. The France star striker, masked and nursing a broken nose, had to be seriously hampered as he left the pitch before the penalty shootout, but his compatriots were perfect from 12 yards.
Joao Felix was the only player to miss, hitting the post, giving Hernandez the chance to send France into the last four and a showdown with Spain in Munich on Tuesday.
Ronaldo back in the spotlight – but was this his last word?
Cristiano Ronaldo faces Theo Hernandez
Even with superstar Kylian Mbappe on the pitch, the focus is on Cristiano Ronaldo. His penalty in the shootout perfectly encapsulates the theatre surrounding him. The dramatic inspiration. The offbeat run-up. And the grand celebration when he impressively struck the ball home.
But while he may have played a part in both of Portugal’s penalty shootouts in the round of 16 of this Euro, his contributions in normal times have been less convincing. He was isolated here and wasted half-chances when they came his way.
With Portugal failing to score in the final third, Goncalo Ramos – who scored a hat-trick in replacing Ronaldo as a starter at the World Cup – and Diogo Jota sat on the bench, probably wondering when they would get a chance to make an assist. Roberto Martinez’s go-ahead never came.
The Portuguese coach backed Ronaldo to the end. And this may be the last time we see him at a major tournament. His last Euro ended with no goals on the line and demonstrated – at least to observers outside the Portuguese camp – that it is time to move on to the next generation.
It wasn’t pretty, but France found a solution
Kylian Mbappé wants to score against Portugal
English fans are not the only ones to bemoan their team’s lack of dynamism in these championships. French fans must feel exactly the same way. Incredibly, Les Bleus reached the semi-finals without scoring a single goal from open play.
They rarely looked like ending that strange drought against Portugal.
Didier Deschamps’ side were very passive, allowing Portugal to control possession for long periods. When they did have the ball in the opposition half, there seemed little cohesion between what has been a devastating attack in the past. The star man of the game, Kylian Mbappe, is clearly not at his best – his substitution midway through extra time showed that. But around him, there seems to be a lack of conviction or commitment from his team-mates.
Ousmane Dembélé at least showed the necessary motivation by coming on as a substitute and he is surely on course to be offered a starting role against Spain. France, if they are to reclaim their European crown, will certainly need to find a spark in the final third of the competition at some point.
Tchouameni: We don’t care if we don’t deserve to pass
France Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni:”We don’t care if it’s deserved or not, we want to savor this victory. Not everything is perfect offensively and defensively, that’s true.
“We get beaten up, sometimes rightly so. But we’re not going to be picky, we’re in the semi-final (against Spain). Everyone can talk, you journalists too, you do your job.”
Pepe: It hurts to lose like that, we deserved better
Portugal defender Grandpa said Save: “It hurts to lose like this. It’s hard to find words for what we did. We deserved a different result for what we did, but that’s football. Four days ago we were happy with the penalties and now we’re sad. We were smart to play with the system set, but that’s football.”
“We had two games against Slovenia and the Czech Republic, who play in a low block and it is difficult to face these teams. We tried to give them some width. Today it would be more open with a different rhythm, just like Turkey, who wanted to play open against us.
“I wanted to continue in this competition. The hug means a lot… it’s not the right time (to talk) because it’s very painful and we’ll have the opportunity to talk about it later. I’ll have time to talk about my future, we have to overcome this enormous pain, we had the ability to win the competition, and now we have to raise our heads.”
