For a moment it looked as if Cristiano Ronaldo was near tears. But then suddenly he was at the tip. The floodgates had opened and he was crying. In front of a sold-out stadium in Frankfurt and an enormous television audience world wide, probably the most famous athlete on the earth burst into tears.
And there was still one game to win to secure a spot within the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship.
It was astonishing to look at. The Portuguese captain had endured one other frustrating evening, still chasing his first goal of the tournament, and now, having been given the prospect to interrupt Slovenia's resistance, he saw goalkeeper Jan Oblak brilliantly save a penalty. The tension and anguish that had been build up inside him suddenly boiled over.
Ronaldo had missed penalties before, sometimes under great pressure. He had cried on the pitch before: tears of sadness, tears of joy. But this time it was different since the game was not over. At 39, when he admits he will probably be playing in his last European Championship, he was not crying a few lost game but, it seemed, concerning the waning of his strength. They were the tears of a matinee idol who realises that he’s facing his final curtain call.
This time he looked so vulnerable, so fallible, so… human. As Portugal's players huddled together at half-time in beyond regular time, they looked up and saw a person who looked like a broken man. One by one, they tried to lift him up. His former Manchester United teammates Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot grabbed him as if to remind him who he was – who he still is. Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha and Manchester City defender Ruben Dias did the identical.
A crying Ronaldo is consoled by Dalot at half-time of beyond regular time (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It was remarkable that Portugal coach Roberto Martinez left him on the sector under these circumstances. Ronaldo seemed finished, barely touching the ball for the remaining of beyond regular time as Slovenia looked to have a likelihood of winning for the primary time that night.
It went to penalties. What if Ronaldo had missed again?
He didn't. This time he hit his shot the opposite way, to Oblak's right, and looked immensely relieved when the web bulged. It took courage, but his response was not smug. It was not the time for his trademark celebration. Instead, he folded his hands apologetically in front of the Portuguese fans.
Within three minutes, Portugal's players and fans were celebrating the victory. Their goalkeeper Diogo Costa was the hero, saving all three of Slovenia's shots, while Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva converted their very own. It was a rare performance from Costa, who had also made a very important save against Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko just before the tip of beyond regular time. Ronaldo, overwhelmed with relief, hugged him and thanked him.
“It was sad at first – and in the end it was joy,” the five-time Ballon d'Or winner told Portuguese TV station RTP afterwards. “That's how it is in football: inexplicable moments from the eighth to the 80th minute. That's what happened today. Did I have the chance to give the team the lead? I didn't manage it.”
Ronaldo apologetically celebrates his goal within the penalty shootout (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
He pointed to his penalty record over the course of the season – “I haven't failed once” – but deep down he must know that it's not only his penalties that will probably be under scrutiny at Euro 2024. Aside from penalty shootouts (because the record books all the time say), he has yet to attain in his 4 appearances on the tournament. Aside from a penalty against Ghana in Portugal's opening game of the 2022 World Cup, he has now gone eight appearances without scoring at a serious tournament.
Ronaldo scored 50 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for Al Nassr last season. He also scored 10 goals in nine appearances in Euro 2024 qualifying, but half of those got here against Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. With an almost absurd record of 130 goals in 211 appearances, he’s the all-time top scorer in men's international football – however the highest-ranked teams he has scored against within the last three years are Switzerland (nineteenth), Qatar (thirty fifth), Slovakia (forty fifth) and the Republic of Ireland (sixtieth).
And yet he shoots so often. So many shots – 20 in total to this point this tournament, at the least seven greater than another player. So many promising attacks and dangerous free-kicks are sacrificed on the altar of complacency. There was one free-kick against Slovenia where, even in a stadium stuffed with diehard Ronaldo fans, he will need to have been the just one who thought he was going to attain. And sure enough, his shot sailed well past the far post.
Then there are the shots he can't take, because as impressive as his physique could also be, his acceleration, speed and power aren't quite what they once were. There was a moment in the primary half when Bernardo Silva cut in from the best wing and delivered what gave the impression of an exquisite cross to him on the far post. Ronaldo leapt high but couldn't reach it, and never for the primary time this tournament, it gave the impression of he would have wasted such a possibility at his best.
But his prime is long gone. Longer than he may think. He last won the Ballon d'Or in 2017, and even by then, on the age of 32, he had turn into a way more economical player than the unstoppable, indomitable force of his mid-twenties.
Ronaldo defeats Jan Oblak on penalties (Harriet Lander – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Some will say this tournament is simply too far for him, but something similar was said 18 months ago on the World Cup in Qatar, where he barely made an impression and eventually lost his place to Goncalo Ramos. Now it looks like two tournaments too far – or two tournaments where Ronaldo can be higher used as an option, perhaps sometimes in its place to swap places with Ramos or Diogo Jota, fairly than a hard and fast point around which all the things else must revolve.
It was almost surprising to listen to Ronaldo say within the mixed zone after the match that this could be his last European Championship. “But I'm not emotional,” he said. “I'm moved by everything that football means – the enthusiasm I feel for the game, the joy of seeing my fans and my family, the affection that people show me.”
“It's not about leaving the world of football. What else can I do or win? It won't be a matter of one point more or one point less. Making people happy is my biggest motivation.”
What is left for him to do or win? That didn't sound like Ronaldo, especially given the scenes we had seen earlier within the evening. Of course he's right – his legacy and his place among the many game's immortals were secured way back – but his response to the missed penalty was not that of somebody who feels proof against the pressure of getting to prove himself over and yet again.
“He is a role model for us,” said Martinez afterwards. “These emotions (after the missed penalty) were incredible. After his career and everything he has achieved, he doesn't have to worry about it too much. After he missed the penalty, he was the first to take the penalty (in the penalty shootout). I was sure he had to be the first and show us the way to victory. His reaction is exemplary and we are very proud.”
Nice words, but Martinez has an enormous decision to make before Portugal's quarter-final against France in Hamburg on Friday.
Over the years, Ronaldo has often acquired the flexibility to save lots of a team from the brink of defeat, but on Monday night he seemed beaten not only by Oblak's penalty save, but in addition by the one enemy that eventually catches up with every athlete: time.
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