Portugal 0-0 Slovenia – Euro 2024: Live score, team news and updates with Cristiano Ronaldo inches away from giving Roberto Martinez’s side the lead in last-16 tie as they look to set up quarter-final date with France
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Another dangerous ball aimed at Ronaldo but Drkusic defends well to beat the legendary forward to the ball and head it out for a throw-in.
Nuno Mendes hurls the ball into the box but Slovenia are able to clear through Benjamin Sekso, but the in-demand striker is stopped in his tracks by two Portugal players.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Boos from the Slovenian fans who feel Rafael Leao should be booked for a challenge on Gnezda Cerin but it does look the Portuguese man slipped into the tackle.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Chance for Bruno Fernandes who hits it hard and true but his effort is straight at Jan Oblak.
The referee did blow the whistle though for a handball from Joao Palhinha so it wouldn’t have stood.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Stojanovic plays a ball over the top to Sporar but Mendes does well to win the ball. He does go on to lose the ball back to Slovenia before winning it again.
Sporar then fouls the Portugal defender who is right in the thick of it so far this game.
Slovenia not offering much going forward but they will be happy for the score to still be goalless.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Petar Stojanovic dives in on Nuno Mendes and wins the ball but the Portugal man is down hurt.
He takes some time to get up and limps off but should be able to continue.
First yellow card of the game
A yellow card for Andrez Sporar for simulation as he goes down with barely any contact from Portugal’s Vitinha.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Portugal putting in some dangerous crosses, all appeared to be geared towards Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Al-Nassr forward goes down in the box but he’s not appealing for a penalty. There definitely wasn’t enough in there for the referee to point to the spot.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Another chance for Portugal as Bernardo Silva swings in a cross from the right that’s just above Cristiano Ronaldo’s head and beyond the boot of Bruno Fernandes. The pair were inches away from turning it in.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Rafael Leao is causing all sorts of problems on the left and Slovenia give away a free-kick after a pull-back by Zan Karnicnik.
Ronaldo showboating
Opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo who is found by Rafeal Leao in the box, but he can’t get the ball out of his feet with Slovenian players around him and he tumbles to the ground.
He gets a big road not long later as he juggles the ball around the Slovenian box – clearly lost none of his confidence!
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Free-kick for Portugal which is taken by Vitinha but Pepe can’t keep it in as the ball evades everyone in red in the Slovenian box.
Chance for Portugal!
Bruno Fernandes whips a dangerous ball into the box which just evades Cristiano Ronaldo and a Slovenian defender is able to put the ball behind under pressure from Rafael Leao.
From the resulting corner, Pepe can’t get on the end of it, but Ruben Dias behind him gets it and smashes the ball into the side of the net.
A bit of turf flicks up and he looks down at it in frustration.
Portugal 0-0 Slovenia
Comfortable start for Portugal who are passing the ball around and dominating possession of the ball.
Something they should be doing for the majority of this game but the question is whether it will be easy for them to break through a deep Slovenian defence.
KICK-OFF
And Portugal get us underway for what hopefully should be a cracker of a game.
Can Portugal return to form or will Slovenia frustrate one of the tournament favourites?
Moment of silence
There is a minute’s silence for Portugal legend Manuel Fernandes who recenrtly died at the age of 73.
The second highest goalscorer in Sporting Lisbon’s history.
Players who need to avoid a yellow
A yellow card for Cristiano Ronaldo or Joao Palhinha would rule them out of the quarter-final against France.
The same for Ruben Neves who is on the bench for his country.
The last time these sides met
Slovenia beat Portugal 2-0 in a Ljubljana friendly on March 26 with Adam Gnezda and Timi Elsnik scored the goals.
That was only a friendly, can they pull off an upset on the big stage?
The teams are out
The teams are in the tunnel and Ronaldo has his eyes closed, probably thinking about scoring for his country this evening!
He opens his eyes as the teams walk out for the national anthems.
One of the shock stars of the tournament?
Pepe might be 41-years-old now but he still seems as important as ever to how this Portugal side operates.
He was one of their star performers in their opening two games, and was among the rested players for their loss to Georgia.
It’s safe to say he might be targeted by Kylian Mbappe should Portugal meet France in the quarter-finals but Pepe is a competitive monster on the pitch and is a great player for Roberto Martinez’s side to have back in their starting XI tonight.
Georgia a wake-up call for Portugal?
Good evening all!
Hopefully we are in for a cracking game this evening after a France vs Belgium clash where both of those sides again lacked quality.
Portugal are heavy favourites to face France in the quarter-finals.
They played a much-changed side against Georgia which led to them suffering a shock loss in their final group stage game.
Ronaldo who played the last game in his desperate search for a goal, is joined by his usual Portugal team-mates and the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva should be nice and fresh for tonight’s game.
But the Georgia game should be a wake-up call for Portugal and let’s not forget Slovenia held England to a draw and will be looking to frustrate another giant of the international game.
A quick change
With around 20 minutes until kick-off, let me hand you over to my colleague Kieran Lynch, who will be taking you through the match.
Enjoy!
Fans ramp up the pre-match rivalry
You have to admire the effort one Slovenia fan has gone to in bringing an Argentina shirt with Lionel Messi’s name on the back, presuambly in a bid to taunt his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the Portugal side, one supporter has a sign reading ‘Who needs superheroes when there’s CR7’.
Another has leaned into the Euro 2024 craze of comparing competing nation’s cuisine.
‘Is there any good Slovenian food at all,’ one sign reads.
Light hearted stuff from both sets of fans.
Can Ronaldo lead Portugal into the quarter-finals?
Mail Sport’s Matt Barlow at the Frankfurt Arena:
That boy Ronaldo still knows the way to whip up a sense of anticipation. Lingering in the tunnel with the cameras fixed on him as Portugal assemble before the warm up.
Then leads out his team, bends down and touches the grass, crosses himself, looks to the heavens and bursts into a full sprint across the pitch to a rapturous ovation from the red and green corner…
Nobody has more goals in Euros finals than his 14. Nobody has scored in more Euros than him (5). But he is goalless in his last four games. He has not scored in the Euros finals since two penalties in a 2-2 draw against France in the group stage in Budapest in 2021.
France await in Hamburg. His powers might be fading but you just wouldn’t put it past him being the man who books Portugal in for another rematch of the 2016 final.
Frankfurt’s final match at Euro 2024
Tonight’s match will be the final one held at the Frankfurt Arena at Euro 2024.
The venue has faced some criticism over the pitch cutting up, mainly during England’s group stage match against Denmark.
The match was one of three 1-1 draws at the stadium during Euro 2024, while the fourth game was Slovakia’s 1-0 win over Belgium.
It has been a stadium of close matches. Will that trend continue tonight?
Ronaldo and Sesko target first Euro 2024 goals
An eye opening stat from UEFA.
Cristiano Roanldo is currently on his longest drought for Portugal at major tournaments having failed to scored in his last seven matches at the European Championships and the World Cup.
Ronaldo will be determined to get off the mark in Germany tonight, with the 39-year-old bidding to add to his record 14 goals at the Euros.
Slovenia’s main goalscoring threat Benjamin Sesko is at the other end of his career.
The highly rated forward, who was linked with Arsenal before renewing his contract at RB Leipzig, has shown flashes at Euro 2024 but is also yet to find the target.
SLOVENIA TEAM NEWS: Underdogs make one enforced change
Slovenia have named the same starting line-up in their three matches at Euro 2024 to date.
Manager Matjaz Kek has been forced to make one alteration tonight with left back Jure Balkovec starting in place of the suspended Erik Janza.
Quite the task ahead of Balkovec tonight in attempting to help the defence keep out Portugal’s attack.
The rest of Kek’s team is unchanged.
PORTUGAL TEAM NEWS: Ronaldo starts as Martinez names same side from Turkey win
No surprise in the Portugal line-up as Roberto Martinez reverts to the same team which cruised to a 3-0 win over Turkey.
That means there are eight changes from the 2-0 defeat to Georgia in the final group match.
The likes of Bruno Fernandes, Pepe, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao are among those to return.
And you guessed it, Cristiano Ronaldo starts in attack.
France lie in wait for the winners
Mail Sport’s Matt Barlow is in position in Frankfurt.
He points out that Portugal’s players were watching as France took the lead in their last-16 match.
Portugal know now that France lie in wait in the quarter-finals with Didier Deschamps side having narrowly overcome Belgium 1-0 in Dusseldorf.
They need to get past Slovenia first though.
Fans out in force in Frankfurt
Fans appear to be on the side of Ronaldo in the debate over his selection, judging by some of the face masks worn by supporters heading into the Frankfurt Arena.
Looks like Portugal supporters will be waving their nation’s flag pre-match.
Flags have been placed on the seats which will be taken up by Portgual’s supporters.
Slovenia will not be outdone though. Large numbers of their fans are already in the stadium and looking to make themselves known.
France lead Belgium in the last-16
Elsewhere, you can follow the closing stages of the first last-16 match of the day on our dedicated live blog.
France have taken the lead in very fortuitious fashhion with five minutes remaining against Belgium.
You can follow the match here:
France 0-0 Belgium – Euro 2024 Live: Masked Mbappe is kept under wraps
Is Roberto Martinez capable of pacifying Ronaldo?
It would not be a Portugal match without discussion around a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mail Sport’s Riath Al-Samarrai has taken a look at the debate around whether Portugal are better off with or without Ronaldo in the starting line-up.
He notes that Ronaldo has not had a bad tournament so far, but the 39-year-old is refusing to embrace his growing limitations.
The question remains whether Roberto Martinez can lead Portugal to glory in Germany with Ronaldo in the team or whether he needs to remove him to benefit a talented Portugal squad.
AL-SAMAARAI: Why Portugal would be better without fading icon Ronaldo
Good evening!
Welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of Portugal’s Euro 2024 last-16 clash with Slovenia.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co booked their place in the knockout stages with relative ease after winning their opening two group matches in Germany.
Roberto Martinez’s men where then stunned in the final group match when a much rotated side suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Georgia.
Will that result be a bump in the road on the route to Euro 2024 glory or could it be a sign of things to come.
Slovenia have already surpassed expectations by reaching the last-16 and will be out to cause a major upset tonight.
Follow all the build-up here to the 8pm kick off in Frankfurt.
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