Portugal’s round of 16 game against Slovenia quickly turned into ‘The Cristiano Ronaldo Show’ but not in the way the five-time Ballon d’Or would have liked.
The 39-year-old happily adopted the the role of the game’s central protagonist on Monday night, a narrative amplified by commentators, pundits and social media users.
Ronaldo let fly with a whopping eight shots in a barrage that included a succession of direct free-kick attempts of varying quality, accompanied by increasingly dramatic facial expressions.
Matjaz Kek’s side defended resolutely but their resistance appeared to be at an end in extra time when Diogo Jota (£4.5m) won a penalty.
Ronaldo stepped up and it appeared for all the world that his one-man play would end happily.
But Jan Oblak (£3m) had other ideas.
The Atletico Madrid stalwart saved the spot-kick, an act that brought Ronaldo to tears on the pitch in a dramatic scene – the BBC’s decision to dub him ‘Misstiano Penaldo’ prompted plenty of backlash.
However, there was another twist still to come.
Slovenia held firm and took Portugal to a shootout but quickly discovered that Diogo Costa (£4m) was in no mood for fairy tales.
The Porto goalkeeper saved all three spot-kicks he faced to send Roberto Martinez’s side through to the quarter-finals.
And of course, Ronaldo scored his penalty in the shootout; a precise finish into the bottom corner well out of Oblak’s reach.
Portugal will now meet France in the last eight where Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer will come face-to-face with Los Blancos’ newest Galactico, Kylian Mbappe (£7.5m).
The whole situation is steeped in narrative but what’s the Dream Team Euros angle?
Despite playing a central role on the night, the fact is Ronaldo added just three points to his tally when all was said and done.
Naturally, his returns were severely limited because of his extra-time penalty miss, which resulted in minus three points.
And of course, actions that occur during penalty shootouts don’t count towards Dream Team Euros.
At the time of writing, Ronaldo appears in just under 20% of teams which makes him the sixth most-popular striker in the game.
He’s started every game at the tournament so far but his return of 18 points has to considered disappointing for an asset worth £6m.
Gaffers are able to make up to five transfers before Matchday 5 and almost a fifth of them have a big decision to make regarding Ronaldo.
It would be typical of the legendary No7 to save his best form for a massive knockout game against France but he will be up against it versus Dayot Upamecano (£4m) and William Saliba (£4.5m) on current form.
Didier Deschamps’ side are yet to concede a goal from open play in Germany while Ronaldo is still waiting for his first goal at the tournament.
Logically, Dream Team Euros bosses should probably seek a replacement ahead of the quarter-finals but it’s also true that betting against Ronaldo can backfire in spectacular fashion, such is his big-match pedigree.
Even if Portugal get past France then they’ll meet the winner of Spain v Germany in the semi-finals – the top half of the draw is ultra competitive.
Gaffers should wait until all the Matchday 5 fixtures are confirmed but it might be worth taking a punt on some attacking assets from the bottom half of the draw.
