Portugal manager Roberto Martinez said there was no blame to cast after Joao Felix missed the penalty that resulted in their exit from the European Championship and likely brought the curtain down on Cristiano Ronaldo’s international career.
Felix fired his penalty against the post — the only miss of the shootout — and then buried his face in his hands, with France winning 5-3 in Friday’s quarter-final after a goalless stalemate at the end of extra time.
“I can tell you that the whole squad was supporting each other and only players who never shoot a penalty never miss,” Martinez said. “Joao has great control of the inside game, he worked hard to be there and this penalty is bad luck.”
The miss from the 24-year-old Atletico Madrid forward gave France the advantage and Theo Hernandez fired past goalkeeper Diogo Costa — who had been superb in stopping three Slovenia penalties in the last 16 — to send France to the semi-finals.
The loss likely marked the end of Ronaldo’s 21-year international career, as he has said his record sixth Euros tournament would be his last.
The 39-year-old converted Portugal’s first kick in the shootout but was also responsible for squandering perhaps their best chance of the night.
After the final whistle, centre-back Pepe collapsed sobbing into Ronaldo’s arms, the curtain surely also coming down on the 41-year-old defender’s international career.
“Pepe is everything he showed in the tournament, not just during the matches, but the way he works through training sessions, the way he supports his colleagues, his commitment,” Martinez said.
“And his tears are tears of frustration. Because when you play against the better opponents, there’s no tears. The tears are there because it’s hard to accept that tonight with our performance, we will drop by the wayside.
“But other than that, Pepe is a role model in Portuguese football and what he did tonight and during the tournament will stay with us, with the next generations.”
Ronaldo has gone nine games without a goal for Portugal and missed a golden opportunity to score during extra time when Francisco Conceicao broke behind the French defence and cut back a pass to Ronaldo just outside the six-yard box.
However, Ronaldo launched the ball wildly over the crossbar — far from a fairytale ending, if it is indeed the end, of an international career that has brought 212 caps and 130 goals.
Martinez said there were plenty of positives from the game, including the fact Portugal had 63% possession.
“The individual talent of this team is there for all of us to see,” he said. “They showed great unity and knew how to suffer, always with the desire to win.
“We lost but we lost with pride, always giving everything in every minute, in true Portuguese style. We won’t stop here. In the future, we will give everything.”