Slovenia forced Portugal into a penalty shootout in Frankfurt and Benjamin Sesko’s missed chance at the end will haunt them. Sesko found himself one-on-one with Pepe in Porto’s goal, who miraculously saved his shot from being scored upon.
Ronaldo struck his opening free kick of the night over the bar as Portugal struggled to penetrate a staunch Slovenian defence.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of Portugal National Football Team vs Slovenia National Football Team Timeline.
The first official match
On September 1st 2006 in Frankfurt, Portugal and Slovenia faced each other for their first official matchup and it ended in a 1-1 tie with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring their only goal – much to their disbelief as heavy favorites going into it. Roberto Martinez’s coaching was heavily criticised due to a lack of creativity from his team which failed to engage its home audience properly during this game.
Ronaldo was at the heart of everything as he found himself in several dangerous positions during a match rife with opportunities. Nearly scoring spectacular goals against Vanja Drkusic from Joao Cancelo’s cross, but unfortunately missed by inches over the bar; later receiving another cross from Cancelo that almost hit Ronaldo directly but landed harmlessly over it; finally receiving another cross from Cancelo that almost got through into his net. With extra time now underway and both teams vying to score, Ronaldo almost scored twice from Cancelo crosses; both teams desperately searching for that winning goal to seal victory against their respective counterparts.
Pepe was an essential member of Portugal’s defense, but Slovenia still found ways to find gaps. Benjamin Sesko had an opportunity to give them the lead but Costa managed to save his shot by diving to his right side and save it with an expert save.
Final minutes of extra time saw heated exchanges between managers as Matjaz Kek was dismissed from protesting against referee’s decision not to award a penalty kick for Jota’s foul by Jure Balkovec and was sent off after protesting, leading to further exchanges before eventually sending the match straight into penalties.
After much anticipation, Portugal kicked off the shootout first. Ronaldo launched his penalty straight into the lower right corner of the net to give them the lead, followed by Bruno Fernandes who surprised Oblak by going lower left with Slovenia’s kick and Bernardo Silva who duped Oblak into misjudging it and advanced Portugal to face either France or Belgium in quarterfinals!
The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
Portugal and Slovenia met in an exciting Round 16 tie at Frankfurt Stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo made amends for his missed penalty while Diogo Costa made three crucial saves to help Portugal advance to face France in a quarter-final tie.
It marked the first-ever shootout at either a European Championship or World Cup finals and only the fourth to ever include as few as six penalties. Slovenia were particularly impressive, defending well and remaining unbeaten throughout all three Group C matches before finally reaching the knockout stage for their debut major tournament appearance.
Matjaz Kek opted to build his team around defending and maintaining possession, which was put through its paces against Portugal who outshot them 32-1 while holding an incredible 27.9% possession share. Even after Vanja Drkusic was shown a straight red card for fouling Jota, Slovenia held firm until fate was ultimately sealed by spot-kicks.
Portugal ultimately prevailed 4-2 on penalties with Bernardo Silva scoring their winning goal after Ronaldo had been denied from a spot kick by Jan Oblak in the 115th minute after an impressive run-up. But at crunch time Ronaldo made no errors; beating goalkeeper Jan Oblak with his first attempt and adding two more shots later for an emphatic win.
Sports Mole provides all the official Opta stats for this matchup, such as team and player statistics, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and live text commentary from Frankfurt. You can also follow live text commentary with our man on the ground reporting live text commentary!
The 2021 FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers
Portugal had made an impressive start to Euro 2024 tournament, beating Czech Republic and Turkiye, to give Roberto Martinez the freedom to rest some regular starters and give fringe players their chance in big matches. Unfortunately for Roberto Martinez and Portugal however, they were unable to overcome an indomitable Slovenian side who, despite being 51 places lower in Fifa world rankings than their hosts, refused to surrender without a fight.
Portugal took control of most of the first half, led by Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva who both attempted to test Jan Oblak in their shootout and book their quarter-final encounter against France for Friday in Hamburg. Both Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva created chances during the second period but the Slovenian defence proved resilient enough to hold them at bay.
Extra time saw tension increase exponentially and an exciting 108 minutes ensued. Joao Palhinha nearly scored with a header before Oblak made an outstanding save to deny Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig a late winner; two bookings for Jaka Bijol and Stanovic ensured Slovenia survived until shootout time was reached.
Costa was outstanding for Portugal in the spot kicks, saving all three kicks from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic to send home fans wild with delight as their heroes advanced to the last eight. Ronaldo took his turn next in taking his penalty kick. His run-up began slowly before quickly picking up speed as he took aim at Oblak. He shot past him to make it 3-0 and set up a potential quarter-final with France – it was an outstanding display from someone who has now scored more goals at Euros and World Cups than any other player ever before! At this tournament, his remarkable play has truly amazed. He led his team in every way possible and rightly won the Golden Boot award – all while showing why he remains one of the greatest ever players.
The ongoing rivalry
Slovenia and Portugal may never have faced each other at a major tournament before, but they have developed a fierce rivalry since the late ’90s in friendly matches that often ended up as draws. They now plan to meet again during qualifying rounds for the 2022 FIFA World Cup – providing both with an opportunity to establish themselves as major forces on international football.
As the players assemble in Frankfurt for kick-off of their match in Frankfurt, Portugal has made several adjustments from their 2-0 loss against Georgia in round 1, including Joao Palhinha, Pepe and Costa who all feature as starters. Slovenia boasts a powerful squad who are looking to prove they can compete with top teams across Europe.
As soon as the match begins, both teams are engaged in an intense struggle to maintain possession and create opportunities. Slovenia, led by their world-class goalkeeper Jan Oblak, looks to frustrate Portugal before striking on the counterattack; Portugal on the other hand is hoping to break through their defenses to create opportunities for its attackers.
Ronaldo earns a free-kick near the penalty area after being fouled by Drkusic. Taking it himself, Ronaldo steps up but his attempt hits Oblak directly in the face.
Moments later, Ronaldo gets another opportunity to score when he dashes down the right-hand side and crosses for Fernandes; but his attempt at heading it on was blocked by an opponent’s leg.
Though both teams had several chances, the first half ended without any goals being scored. As play continued into the second half, two sides battled hard for control of the ball as Slovenia exerted pressure against Portugal but failed to secure victory.
At the end of it all, Ronaldo misses his penalty but Oblak saves it and Portugal advances!
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