France will be entitled to a remake of the Euro 2016 final. After having dominated Belgium (1-0), the Blues were able to watch from afar the round of 16 of their part of the table in this Euro 2024 between Portugal and Slovenia. And in this apparently unbalanced duel, it is indeed the Portuguese who join Didier Deschamps’ men. But in reality, how complicated it was against the Slovenians (0-0), novices at this stage in the competition, who pushed them to penalties.
Not enough to really impress the Blues. The Seleção never managed to find the solution against the Slovenian block perfectly guarded by an excellent Jan Oblak. It was necessary to wait until the 34th minute of play to see the first big chance for Cristiano Ronaldo, starting for the fourth time in a row but not yet a scorer in this Euro. CR7 sent his free kick from 22 meters just above the right top corner of the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper, before Palhinha, just before half-time, found the post after good work from Leao on the left side (0-0, 45 + 2).
A missed penalty and tears for Ronaldo, before the Costa miracle
On the Slovenian side, there was not much to get their teeth into by operating on the counter, apart from a very long shot from Sesko without danger for Costa. The second half was only postponed with another powerful free kick from Ronaldo this time stopped by Oblak (0-0, 55th), and a small scare on the counter by an always enterprising Sesko but too clumsy after having left Pepe (0-0, 61st). The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, again, had the winning ball at the very end of the match (0-0, 88th) but stumbled with his left foot on an Oblak, always so calm on his line to offer an additional 30 minutes reprieve to his teammates.
The Slovenian goalkeeper continued his festival against the Portuguese superstar in extra time. After a penalty caused by Diogo Jota, Jan Oblak magnificently deflected the attempt of Cristiano Ronaldo, in tears, to keep the Slovenian hope alive (0-0, 105th).
A hope that almost became reality in the 115th minute when Sesko went alone against Costa after a mistake by Pepe, but it was the Portuguese goalkeeper who got the better of this ultra-decisive one-on-one.
It couldn’t have been any other way, the two teams ended up playing for qualification on penalties. And in that game, Cristiano Ronaldo, in tears after his first missed penalty, finally found the solution against Oblak, while Diogo Costa worked miracles in the Portuguese goal with three consecutive saves on Ilicic, Balkovec and Verbic.
The planets aligned for once in this match, the exercise was cut short (3-0 tab) after the final achievement of Bernardo Silva of a disappointing Portugal. Disappointing but enough to take the direction of the quarter-finals and Hamburg where the French are quietly waiting for them. The appointment is set for Friday 9 p.m.
