New Delhi: Cristiano Ronaldo was seen consoling teammate Pepe after Portugal were beaten by France 3-5 on penalties on Saturday in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals. After the game finished 0-0 following extra time, Joao Felix hit a post in the shootout and Theo Hernandez converted the clinching kick. The defeat also ended Ronaldo’s bid to win a title in his last appearance at the tournament.
France lost in penalty shootouts at their last two major tournaments — in the last 16 at the Euros in 2021 and in the 2022 World Cup final. France will play Spain in the semifinals after its extra-time win over Germany in Stuttgart. Following the game, the 41-year-old Pepe broke into tears as it was also his last appearance in the tournament just like Ronaldo.
The Portuguese captain held things together after the game as nearly all his teammates were inconsolable after going down fighting. Both teams played aggressive football but missed several chances during 120 minutes of play at Volksparkstadion. The best opportunity fell to Ronaldo in extra time when he skied over from a close range. Mbappe, who was playing with a broken nose, looked uncomfortable in a face mask before being substituted in the extra time.
“Soccer is very cruel,” Pepe said. Ronaldo cried himself at Euro 2024 — after having a penalty saved during extra time of the last-16 match against Slovenia just four days ago. He cried at the 2022 World Cup after Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Maybe he was out of tears, because this time he simply looked into the sky, appearing to be disappointed and rueful. Ronaldo will be 41 when the next major tournament rolls around — the 2026 World Cup, jointly held by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Can he stick around until then? Well, he is still captain of his country — the holder of a men’s record 130 international goals and 212 international appearances. He is still churning out full games for his country. The only time he didn’t complete a match at Euro 2024 was in the group stage against Georgia, when he came off in the 66th minute with Portugal assured of advancing. He played the entire 120 minutes against Slovenia and France.
And he still clearly commands the respect of his teammates and coach, Roberto Martinez. Yet Ronaldo, who now plays his club soccer out of the global spotlight in Saudi Arabia, has now gone eight games without a goal in major tournaments. That takes in all five of Portugal’s matches at Euro 2024 and its final three at the World Cup in Qatar.
Ronaldo converted his penalty in the shootout but it wasn’t enough. And then he had to take on the role of comforter for Pepe. “I won’t say it publicly,” Pepe told TV station Canal 11, when asked what Ronaldo said to him. “But we feel it a lot. Contrary to what many people think, we feel it a lot.
“We feel the frustration of not winning a game, of being eliminated in such a big competition as the European Championship, knowing that we had a lot of quality to go through. That’s the pain we feel.” Ronaldo finishes his European Championship career on a record 14 goals. That’s five more than his nearest rival, Michel Platini, who scored all of his at one tournament — Euro 1984 — including two hat tricks. Ronaldo is the only player to go to six editions of the European Championship. He had scored at each one before arriving in Germany.
(With AP Inputs)
