Portugal entered Monday’s last-16 clash as the overwhelming favourites to progress but Slovenia took the 2016 champions all the way to penalties, where Ronaldo and Co eventually prevailed at Frankfurt Arena.
Ronaldo – the top scorer in the history of international football – earlier had a glorious chance to put Portugal in front after Vanja Drkusic fouled Diogo Jota inside the box towards the end of the first period of extra time.
But Ronaldo’s spot-kick was brilliantly saved by an outstretched Jan Oblak and the veteran Al Nassr attacker was pictured in floods of tears at the halfway stage of extra time, with his fellow countrymen having to console him in their huddle.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid icon – as ever, the centre of attention – went on to redeem himself in a nerve-shredding shootout, converting the first of Portugal’s penalties before Bernardo Silva netted the winning kick from 12 yards to send Slovenia packing.
Shortly after the pulsating drama came to an end, Ronaldo opened up on the ‘sadness and joy’ he felt after his initial penalty miss reduced him to tears.
Asked to describe his emotions during the win, Ronaldo told Sport TV: ‘Even the strongest people have their days, I was down and I was sad because the team needed me.
‘Initial sadness and joy at the end, that’s what football brings, inexplicable moments, from the eighth minute to the 80th, that’s what happens.
‘I could have given the national team the advantage, but I didn’t manage it, Oblak saved, I didn’t miss once during the year, and when I needed it most Oblak saved.
‘It’s a feeling of sadness and joy at the same time, but the most important thing is progressing, the team deserved it.
‘Slovenia spent almost the entire time defending and when it’s like that it’s very difficult, the team deserves congratulations, especially our goalkeeper who made three good saves.’
But in a post on Instagram, Ronaldo’s sister Elma Aveiro provided an added layer of context which goes some way to explaining why her younger sibling struggled to keep a lid on his emotions.
‘This scene happened when he saw our mother on the giant screen, suffering from a lifetime of pain,’ she wrote along with a video of the moment Ronaldo spotted his mother on the screen.
‘Do you know what that means? You don’t know… No one will ever know… Not everything is football, fame and money.’
Ronaldo’s Portugal face off against France in what promises to be an intriguing quarter-final encounter in Hamburg on Friday evening.
The winning team will do battle for a place in the final with either Spain or Germany – arguably the two form teams at the tournament – in Munich on July 9.
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