Talisman Cristiano Ronaldo misses a spot kick as Austria hold Portugal

Ronaldo set a new Portuguese record with his 128th international cap, surpassing the mark previously shared with Luis Figo, but the occasion will be better remembered for the Real Madrid superstar hitting the post with a 79th-minute spot-kick. Hungary, who salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw with Iceland, are the surprise group leaders with a game to play, while Austria must win their final match to avoid exiting prematurely. “This is not the result we wanted. It’s not fair, it’s not deserved but that’s football,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos. 

“It’s no use crying over spilt milk, it’s not the time to have regrets. “We have another point and we have a ‘final’ to play on the 22nd (against Hungary), we have to focus on winning the next match.” Santos sought to reinvigorate his team after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Iceland, drafting in Ricardo Quaresma to form an attacking trident with Ronaldo and Nani. 

William Carvalho was handed a start in central midfield, while Austria coach Marcel Koller made three changes, two enforced, with Sebastian Prodl, Stefan Ilsanker and Marcel Sabitzer all coming into the side beaten 2-0 by Hungary on Tuesday. Austria showed early signs of promise, much like in their opener against Hungary, carving out a chance when a leaping Martin Harnik nodded Sabitzer’s whipped cross just wide. But Portugal settled quickly, with Nani denied his second goal of the tournament by the outstretched leg of Austria goalkeeper Robert Almer after breaking in behind centre-back Prodl. 

Almer tipped a long-range strike from Vieirinha behind, while Ronaldo spurned a glorious opportunity to write his name into the history books on 22 minutes as he steered wide from Raphael Guerreiro’s cut-back inside the area. Portugal remained the dominant side and nearly reaped their reward just before the halfhour, only for Nani’s header from Andre Gomes’ leftwing cross to crash back off the post with Joao Moutinho drilling the rebound over. Ronaldo then helped on a Quaresma header straight at Almer, but Vieirinha needed to make an important clearance to keep David Alaba’s driven freekick from finding Harnik at the far post.

There was relief for Austria and joy for those who like to see superstars cut down to size after Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty and a chance to go into the European Championship record books on Saturday.

Portugal won a spot kick in the 79th minute of their Group F match against Austria. Goalkeeper Robert Almer dived the wrong way but Ronaldo crashed his shot against the post. The 31-year-old holder of multiple scoring records looked to the heavens in disbelief. He just needs one goal in the tournament to become the first player to score at four European Championship finals. The game ended goalless, Austrian fans were chanting “Messi, Messi” and Ronaldo was already the talk of the Twittersphere when he started to walk off clearly frustrated.

But the night of surprises was still not over. One man managed to get past the Parc des Princes security and ran up to the Portuguese star. Ronaldo held back his disappointment and waited while the spectator took his cellphone to take a selfie. Security guards also stood and watched. Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos would not say whether Ronaldo was also in tears in the dressing room. 

Asked how the Portugal captain was feeling, Santos diplomatically responded: “I prefer not to talk about this subject. I won’t talk about individual players.” Analysis of Ronaldo’s record was intense. The striker has now missed 19 out of 110 career penalties, including in shootouts, according to renowned Spanish football statistician Mr Chip. He pointed out however that Lionel Messi has missed the same number from 87 penalties taken.