‘-2.9 record’ He should have scored 3 goals
Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (39-Alnas) is playing the final Euro of his career, and his goal drought continues. With no goals so far, Ronaldo is the worst player in the tournament to fail to meet his goal expectancy (xG).
Ronaldo’s head was down after he missed a crucial penalty in the final minute of stoppage time of their Euro 2024 Round of 16 match against Slovenia at the Frankfurt Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday, with the score tied 0-0. Ronaldo’s shot from the right corner of the box deflected off a diving Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) and into the right-hand post.
After blowing a crucial scoring chance, Ronaldo clutched his head with both hands and looked pained, eventually walking off the field in tears after the first half of extra time to be consoled by his teammates.
Portugal played Slovenia to a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes of hard-fought first-half and extra time, forcing a penalty shootout to dry the blood.
Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa (Porto) wiped away Ronaldo’s tears with a stunning save. As Slovenia’s No. 1 kicker Josip Ilicic’s left-footed shot headed for the right side of the goal, Costa quickly threw himself down to palm it away.
Ronaldo was Portugal’s first kicker and scored a goal to avenge his missed extra-time penalty. Portugal’s Costa pulled off an exhilarating save to deny Slovenia’s second and third kicks, while Portugal’s second and third kicks both found the back of the net to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win on penalties.
Costa became the first player to make three saves in a penalty shootout at a European tournament, according to UEFA, and was named 19가이드 Player of the Match.
After Portugal’s quarterfinal victory was confirmed, captain Ronaldo embraced Costa in a strong embrace to thank the goalkeeper. Speaking to the media after the game against Slovenia, Ronaldo said, “Sadness turned into joy. This is soccer. I can’t really explain it in words,” he said after the game.
Despite the sigh of relief, Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net for the fourth time in four games at the tournament after missing a penalty against Slovenia. Playing in his sixth Euro, Ronaldo has played 366 minutes over four games, attempting 20 shots on target, but has not scored a single goal.
According to sports stats site FutbolScore.com, Ronaldo was the worst player in the tournament to fail to meet his xG. Despite having an xG value of 2.9, Ronaldo has yet to score a single goal, registering a -2.9. In four games, he has had enough chances to score three goals, but has gone scoreless. The runner-up, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, is at -2.3, giving Ronaldo the honor of being the clear favorite.
Ronaldo’s only other offensive point of the tournament came in the second leg of Group F against Turkey, when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the 10th minute of the second half, and he passed to Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), who ran in from the other side.
Ronaldo will try again to score the tournament’s magical goal in the quarterfinals on June 6 against ‘favorites’ France.