Cristiano Ronaldo consoled a heartbroken Pepe after Portugal lost to France on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
Ronaldo managed to keep his composure after Portugal’s Euros exit, just a few days after he burst into tears after missing a penalty in his team’s last-16 victory over Slovenia.
The all-time great, who scored his spot-kick against France, even offered a shoulder to cry on as Pepe, 41, broke down following a crushing penalty shootout defeat.
The quarter-final clash in Hamburg finished goalless and France advanced to the semi-finals after winning the shootout 5-3, Portugal’s Joao Felix the only player to miss from the spot.
Portugal’s defeat was particularly painful for Ronaldo, playing in his sixth and final European Championship, and Pepe who is now expected to retire from international football.
As the TV cameras cut to Ronaldo consoling Pepe, ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand said on BBC: ‘It is testament to those guys, the professionalism and dedication to their craft.
‘To get to that stage of a tournament at that age and to perform, especially Pepe – huge respect.’
Former Portugal defender Jose Fonte added: ‘They [Pepe and Ronaldo] probably know it’s the end of the line in the national team. I don’t know if it will be.
‘But where do you go from here? They have done so much for Portugal, sometimes you have to give a place to the young boys coming up, make them show their talent. They have done great.
‘I thought Portugal were the better team, France too negative but at the end of the day you’ve got to score to win it. If you let it go to penalties it’s 50/50, it can go both ways.’
Pepe, meanwhile, said: ‘It’s hard to find words for our performance, for everything the team showed. The level of work deserved a different result.
‘Unfortunately that’s football. Four days ago we were all happy because we beat Slovenia, but today we’re sad.
‘I congratulate my team-mates. They fought hard, did what our coach asked and did well. We had our chances to score and played the game intelligently.’
France, who lost to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, face Spain in the semi-finals after Luis de la Fuente’s side beat hosts Germany earlier in the day.
The French will turn their attentions to a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Spain despite producing a ‘bang average’ performance against Portugal, according to Chris Sutton.
‘The performance wasn’t there, but the penalties were quite incredible,’ he told BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘The last one the pressure was on Theo Hernandez – he sent Diogo Costa the wrong way.
‘France did not deserve to go through and they have been bang average in this competition, it is about finding a way in tournament football. Didier Deschamps stumbles through again.’
After France booked a semi-final meeting with Spain, Deschamps said: ‘We’re in the semi-finals, and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, even if we may be used to it recently.
‘I was already enjoying being in the quarter-finals. Now we go to win it.
‘It was a very tense, tight match. It could have gone either way, even if we had a more laborious end to the match in extra time with less of the ball.
‘There was fatigue, too. It’s decided on small details but I’m happy for the group. They pushed themselves to the limit and swung it to the right side for us.’
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