Cristiano Ronaldo's tears turn to triumph as keeper's penalty heroics save Portugal

(ABC-Australia) Cristiano Ronaldo's tears turn to triumph as Portugal's goalkeeper turns in an all-time penalty shootout performance, while Belgium's golden generation's heartache continues after losing to France and an England star under investigation.

Here are the five quick hits from Tuesday morning's action at Euro 2024.

Cristiano Ronaldo in tears as Euro scoring drought continues

Portugal may be through to the quarterfinal stage of the Euros, but incredibly its talisman Cristiano Ronaldo is still looking for his first goal of the tournament.

Ronaldo has cut a frustrated figure throughout the Euros despite his team's success, having not scored at a major tournament since he netted against Ghana in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The 39-year-old once again had an outing littered with great chances, but found a nemesis in Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Oblak and Ronaldo are very familiar with each other from the Portuguese star's time with Real Madrid, where Oblak was the shot-stopper for Real's cross-town rivals, Atletico Madrid.

Having lashed goal after goal past Oblak in his heyday with Madrid, you'd think Ronaldo would've had an easy time finishing, but it proved to be anything but the case.

Ronaldo had one powerful free kick swatted away by Oblak, and then had a late chance to win the match in normal time, but saw his left-footed strike on goal again thwarted.

After the teams were unable to score in the first 90 minutes, Ronaldo seemed destined to end his drought when he stepped up to the penalty spot after Diogo Jota won a penalty for Portugal in the first half of the extra time period.

Ronaldo's penalty wasn't necessarily a bad one, but Oblak's save was better, as he dived full-stretch to his left to keep Slovenia in it. What happened next was remarkable.

Minutes later, when the teams were in their huddles before the second period of extra time, an inconsolable Ronaldo started bawling on the pitch and was surrounded by his teammates.

Diogo Dalot hugged his captain as he wept, giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading back out onto the pitch in what will no doubt be one of the most iconic photos to come out of these Euros.

While Ronaldo wasn't able to net his 131st international goal, he did get some redemption on Oblak in the end, as he stepped up to take Portugal's first penalty of the shootout, putting it past the Slovenian goalkeeper in the left corner.

The Portugal captain immediately raised his hands and apologised to the fans and then looked like a relieved man when Bernardo Silva's penalty sent Portugal into the quarters just minutes later.

"I was sad and now I'm overjoyed. This is what football gives you," Ronaldo said in translated comments in a post-game interview. "You cannot explain it."

Cristiano Ronaldo may take the headlines from Portugal's penalty shootout win, but the real hero of the match was his teammate Diogo Costa's performance between the sticks.

The Portuguese goalkeeper was deservedly named the player of the match for a simply ridiculous performance during the shootout, where he saved three straight penalties to shut out Slovenia.

Costa became the first keeper to save three penalties at the Euros, with his historic performance saving major blushes from a Portuguese perspective.

The shootout wasn't the only stage of the match where Costa proved heroic as well, with Portugal almost being knocked out of the tournament before it got to the shootout stage.

Portuguese hearts were in mouths late in the extra time period when a tired dribbling effort from 41-year-old defender Pepe caused the ball to go loose near the halfway line, with the ball snapped up by Slovenia's star striker Benjamin Šeško.

The 21-year-old Šeško is widely considered one of the game's best young strikers, having been in demand from the likes of Manchester United, and he looked sure to send Slovenia to the next round.

Šeško was one-on-one with Costa and looked to curl the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, only to be stopped by the outstretched foot of Costa, as Portugal somehow remained alive.

"This is probably the best game of my life," Costa said in translated comments.

"I focused as hard as I could. I breathed in several times and went with my gut.

"We all know that Cris is the hardest worker. I understand how frustrated he is. For me, it's an honour to play on the same team."