Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was spotted consoling his teammate Pepe after the side got knocked out of the UEFA Euro 2024 following their defeat via penalty shootout against France at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on Saturday, July 6.
Portugal and France put on a brilliant fight as neither of the sides conceded a goal throughout 90 minutes and extra time of 30 minutes. The quarterfinal match went into a penalty shootout to determine the winner. Unfortunately, for Portugal, the penalty shootout ended in a heartbreak with a 3-5 defeat against France, who qualified for the semifinal against Spain.
Following the defeat, Portugal's players, especially Pepe, were visibly emotional and heartbroken as their hopes of winning the Euro title were shattered. In a video that went viral on social media, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen consoling a heartbroken Pepe and offering words of comfort before making his walking down to the tunnel for dressing room.
With Portugal's quarterfinal defeat against France, Cristiano Ronaldo retired from playing Euro Championship. Following Portugal's Round of 16 win against Slovenia, Ronaldo announced that the ongoing Euro 2024 was his last appearance in the tournament. Under the captaincy of Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal clinched their first ever Euro title by defeating France in the 2016 Final.
Meanwhile, Pepe too played his final international tournament in Euro 2024. The 39-year-old played a crucial role in helping Portugal win their maiden Euro Championships in 2016.
'We feel the frustration of not winning a game': Pepe
Portugal football star Pepe admitted to the frustration of not winning the quarterfinal against France as the 2016 Euro champions bid for 2nd title came to an disappointing end.
"We feel the frustration of not winning a game, of being eliminated in such a big competition as the European Championship, knowing that we had a lot of quality to go through. That’s the pain we feel.” Pepe told TV station Canal 11 after the quarterfinal defeat
Portugal had a decent campaign in the ongoing Euro 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo-led side finished the group stage as table toppers with two wins against Turkey and Czech Republic and a defeat against Georgia in Group F.
In the round of 16 against Slovenia, Portugal qualified for the quarterfinal via penalty shootout 3-0. In that match, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty goal during the 120 minutes encounter but managed to make up for it in the penalty shootout.
