July 2, 2024
Portugal is still on the fight to reach the EURO 2024 final, but in order to get there, they will have to beat France in the quarter-finals. Will we still see Ronaldo's best version in what could be his last major tournament of this kind?
The UEFA Euro 2024 has been a rollercoaster so far. From the very first game on, we've seen matches full of excitement and plenty of goals. However, some teams appreciate winning more than playing attractive football full of chances and goals. When it comes to Portugal, they've had a road with no major hiccups so far. Portugal managed to claim the first position in their group after beating the Czech Republic and Turkey, but losing against Georgia in the last match of thegroup. Let's see who they're playing next and what are their odds of actually winning the tournament...
Cristiano Ronaldo - His reaction after eliminating Slovenia:
In the first game of the tournament, Portugal beat Czech Republic thanks to a goal from Francisco Conceição in the dying moments of the match. The Seleção dominated most of the game, but after seeing the opponents grabbing the lead in the 62nd minute, things weren't looking good for Roberto Martínez's men. Nevertheless, Portugal never dropped the towel and after scoring the equalizer just seven minutes later, the winning goal arrived in one of the last plays of the game, when FC Porto's promising talent hit the back of the net from a short range strike.
In the second game of the group stage, Portugal clashed heads with Turkey and this time, the Seleção showed the public why they are ranked as one of the favorites to win the tournament. A goal from Bernardo Silva in the 21st minute, followed by a quite awkward own-goal from Akaydin in the 28th minute, gave Portugal a comfortable lead before the half-time break. Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese captain, assisted Bruno Fernandes for the third and final goal in the second half, which helped Portugal securing the top spot in the group and a place in the last-16 stage of the EURO 2024.
Finally and with the first place of the group in their pocket, Portugal faced Georgia in the last match of the group stage. Roberto Martínez decided to rotate 9 players from its starting lineup, leaving only Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Costa on the pitch. The result, however, was not what the Portuguese nation was expecting. The Seleção didn't have a good game and allowed Georgia to pull off a stunning 2-0 victory, which had no impact in terms of Portugal's standings.
This past Monday, Portugal and Slovenia clashed in Frankfurt, in one of the 8 matches scheduled for the last-16 rounds. The Seleção was ranked as a heavy favorite ahead of this game, but the truth is, there are no easy games when we reach this stage of the competition...
As expected, Roberto Martínez' men had a lot more ball throughout the entire game, but Slovenia defended very well, granting almost no spaces for the Portuguese players to create danger. The best scoring chance came on in the extra-time, when Slovenia ended up conceding a penalty-kick, following a great play from Diogo Jota. Ronaldo, however, missed the chance to give Portugal the lead and everything would be taken to a penalty shootout decision.
In the moment of truth, Portugal raised to the occasion, with Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva all scoring their goals. However, the real MVP would be Portugal's goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, who stopped 3 consecutive penalties from the Slovenian side and took Portugal to the quarter-finals of the tournament...
While Portugal managed to get past Slovenia in their last-16 matchup, France had to go through a strong Belgium side. The faceoff between Portugal and France for the quarter-finals of the EURO 2024 is now schedulede for next Friday, with all bookmakers rating France as the favorite to go through.
The Seleção is going to need Ronaldo in his best form and if that does happen, we all know anything can happen on July 5, in Hamburg.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal is on July 5, against France for the EURO 2024. You can watch Portugal vs France, Brazil vs Colombia, Spain vs Germany, England vs Switzerland, Romania vs Netherlands and Austria vs Turkey, all matches provided from our live soccer game pages.
Portugal next game:
Portugal vs France kick-off time (05-07-2024):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:30
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+3: 22:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-6: 13:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / nytimes.com / apnews.com
