Julius OkorieIn continuation of the ongoing Euro 2024 Championship in Germany, Portugal go head to head against France today in one of the quarterfinal clashes. This by extension is also ambitious duo Cristiano Ronaldo going head to head with his France counterpart Kylian Mbappe.
A repeat of the 2016 showpiece in today’s Euro 2024 quarter-final, at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, promises to be an absorbing affair.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBoth Portugal and France are far from convincing in the matches leading to today’s encounter but with mistakes made and corrections taken, there are strong indications that every arsenal in the armoury will be unleashed into this game
Monday’s Deutsche Bank Park battle between Portugal and Slovenia was one of tragedy and triumph for Selecao superstar Ronaldo, whose attempts to score a goal at Euro 2024 remain fruitless, thanks in no small part to Jan Oblak’s heroic extra-time penalty save from the 39-year-old.
Tears flowed from Ronaldo’s face before Slovenia kept Martinez’s men off the scoresheet for the final 15 minutes of the 120, but as the Al-Nassr man, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes all registered from 12 yards, the Slovenians met an impenetrable wall in Diogo Costa.
Replacing Ronaldo as Portugal’s hero for the evening, Costa became the first male goalkeeper to ever save three penalties in a European Championship shootout to propel the 2016 champions into the quarter-finals, sparing the blushes of his teammates who were repelled time and time again by Matjaz Kek’s valiant troops.
READ ALSO Euro 2024: Double Delight For Ronaldo As Portugal Scale Through
However, having come up trumps from the penalty spot, Portugal will now compete in their seventh European Championship quarter-final – more than any other men’s nation since 1996 – and their only two losses at this stage so far have come against the Czech Republic in that year and to eventual runners-up Germany in 2008.
Already going one better than their agonising last-16 exit at the delayed Euro 2020, Portugal will be rewarded with an equally daunting semi-final against either Spain or Germany should they conquer the French in Hamburg.
Portugal and France have met seven times and if the past is to play a role in today’s encounter, les Blues will certainly have an edge. In the seven times the two have met, France have won four times with two draws and only one win for Portugal. But in this Championship the 2018 world Cup champions are strongly to find the goals, even Mbappe tipped to turn into goal machine in Germany has only managed to convert one through penalty.
Four matches into the current European Championships, and a French player is yet to score a goal through open play, but the fact of the matter is that Didier Deschamps’s men are quarter-finalists once again, banishing the demons of their Euro 2020 dejection.
It Is Survival Of The Fittest!
Ronaldo’s head-to-head versus Mbappe may steal the headlines, but today is here and it is only the fittest that can survive. Both Mbappe and Ronaldo will be searching for goals and in fact Ronaldo will be hoping there will be no need to shed tears again today.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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