The dream for reaching another Euro Cup final and winning it is over for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal vs France clash remained goalless after extra time. But in the crucial penalties, it was France who reigned supreme to oust Portugal. With this win, France will now go on to face Spain in the first semi finals of UEFA Euro 2024.
Nothing to separate after 120 minutes!
Both France and Portugal spent the entire of the first half trying to establish their dominance in the midfield. But none of the sides was able to exert their advantage as a boring half came to an end. Back in the second half, both the teams huffed and puffed but failed to change the score-line.
Finally the game proceeded to extra time. Both sides came close to scoring the opener, Portugal via Cristiano Ronaldo and France via Camavinga, but still nothing doing. Eventually the game progressed to the dreaded penalties. Bruno Fernandes was substituted in the second half while Kylian Mbappe was benched in the second half of extra time, meaning both oenalty specialists weren’t available for their countries.
Joao Felix misses!
Diogo Costa was the hero in the penalty shootout against Slovenia, but the Porto keeper failed to bit his mark in the shootout. France were spot on with their kicks, sending Costa the wrong way on all 5 occasions. But it was Joao Felix’s whose miss ended the dream for Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.
The ace forward who hardly played in the tournament so far was brought on in extra time, failed to score an easy header. And then in the shootout missed his shot. Baffled by the mind tricks of Mike Maignan, he went too deep to hit the cross bar, which saw Portugal getting knocked out of Euro 2024.
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