Cristiano Ronaldo started to cry after his extra-time penalty for Portugal was saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak, marking one of the most dramatic nights of Euro 2024 so far

Cristiano Ronaldo was reduced to tears when he saw his mother crying in the stands following his penalty miss against Slovenia.

Ronaldo, 39, blew the chance to put favourites Portugal ahead in extra-time of their Euro 2024 round-of-16 tie which they eventually won via a penalty shoot-out. His extra-time spot-kick was emphatically saved by Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak, diving to his left to produce a stunning moment in Frankfurt.

Seconds later, the whistle blew for half time in extra-time and Ronaldo regrouped with his team-mates in a huddle. New footage has emerged showing the five-time Ballon d’Or winner looking up towards the stands and seeing his 69-year-old mum, Dolores Aveiro, teary-eyed.

That set Ronaldo off, with Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot consoling him as he broke down. The Portuguese captain was still weeping when he walked back on for the second half of extra-time, fresh from a team pep talk from boss Roberto Martinez.

Martinez’s side were unable to find a breakthrough in the final 15 minutes and after their own goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, made a terrific one-on-one save to deny Benjamin Sesko what’d surely have been the winning goal, the game went to a penalty shoot-out.

Up stepped Ronaldo to face the Atletico Madrid stalwart again but this time, after a strategic stutter in his run-up, he whipped the ball to the sprawling Oblak’s right and it crashed into the side of the net. There was no huge celebration from Ronaldo, but instead an apology for not converting earlier.

Then it was Costa’s turn to become the hero once more, as he saved all three of Slovenia’s penalties while team-mates Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva followed Ronaldo by scoring, too.

The sight of his mum’s tears was too much for him
Ronaldo’s mum was delighted, celebrating the dramatic victory which booked a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with France on Friday. The ex-United, Real Madrid and Juventus talisman is yet to score a goal in four games at the tournament and will hope to break his duck against the side who Portugal beat to win the 2016 European Championship final in France’s own backyard.

Ronaldo decided to speak to the media post-match and was asked what went through his head when Oblak denied him from 12 yards in extra-time. “The strongest sometimes have their days, too,” he told Sport TV. “I was down, sad, because when the team needs it… I’ll talk later, I can’t do it.”

Speaking to a pool of reporters, Ronaldo added: “Sadness at the start is joy at the end. That’s what football is. Moments, inexplicable moments. One direct shot to give the team the lead and I didn’t manage it. Oblak made a good save.

“I will have to see the penalty again. I don’t know if I shot well or badly, but I haven’t missed once all year, and when I needed it most, Oblak saved it. I think Portugal deserved it because we had more authority. Slovenia spent almost the entire game defending. It’s very difficult and the whole team is to be congratulated, especially our goalkeeper who made three very good saves.”

He also told RTP: “It’s football, the one who fails is the one who tries, too. Obviously it’s a frustration when we can’t score but it’s football. I already forgot [about it] because the end result was positive, we won, it’s the most important thing. Sometimes it’s difficult to score penalties, I’ve scored more than 200 in my career.

“But I lost twice this year on penalties and today I won. Football sometimes has to be fair and today it was fair because I think Portugal deserved to win.”