Cristiano Ronaldo tears make mockery of unwritten Portugal rule affecting Bruno Fernandes

First there were tears of distress, then came the tears of joy.

This was the Cristiano Ronaldo show in Frankfurt as Portugal squirmed their way into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, edging past Slovenia 3-0 on penalties thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Ronaldo looked a broken man at half-time of extra-time after he was denied from 12-yards by Jan Oblak before he swiftly recuperated and regained his composure to swat aside any lingering mental demons.

His shootout spot-kick was exceptional but the circus that plagued this match was not so much. This was about Ronaldo trying to be the hero, by hook or by crook, and the reality is, it never needed to be that way. Portugal are stronger as a collective than when they’re relying on a 39-year-old veteran.

It wasn’t long before Ronaldo attempted to grab the spotlight and take centre stage. His comically needless self-centred juggling inside nine minutes wasn’t fooling anyone despite rapturous applause inside Deutsche Bank Park.

He then tried to dive and win a foul but stone-faced referee Daniele Orsato refused to be deceived. And to his credit, the Italian official was largely brilliant at managing CR7’s big persona all evening because the petulance began to wear thin.