Germany, France edged past Belgium to reach the quarter-finals and face Portugal, who beat Slovenia on penalties, in Euro 2024.
Euro 2024 Round of 16, the third day of the competition, the first match at the Dsseldorf Arena, Dsseldorf, France played against Belgium. Most of the game was in the middle of the field. Both sides had very few chances to score. The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the second half, France began to have more chances to move the ball towards Belgium, but Belgium defended tenaciously. The game looked like it would end in a draw after 90 minutes, but France scored the winning goal in the 85th minute from a shot by Kolo Mouani that hit the leg of Belgium’s defender Jan Vertonghen and went into the goal. In the remaining time, Belgium was unable to score a goal back. The game ended with France winning 1-0.
In another match at Frankfurt Arena in Frankfurt, Portugal played against Slovenia. In the first half, Portugal had more possession but could not find any clear chances to score.
The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the second half, the game continued in the same format with Portugal having more possession of the ball but still unable to penetrate Slovenia’s strong defense line to score a goal. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and had to go into extra time for 30 minutes. In the first half of extra time, in the 104th minute, Portugal had a chance to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty kick, but Cristiano Ronaldo, the team captain, shot and was saved by Slovenia’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
In the second half of extra time, Slovenia almost got the winning goal, but Benjamin Sesko’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper. After 120 minutes, the score was 1-1, so it had to be decided by penalty kicks with 5 players for each side. The result was that Portugal scored the first 3 goals, while Diogo Costa, the Portuguese goalkeeper, saved 3 penalties, helping Portugal beat Slovenia 3-0 on penalties and advance to the last 8 teams to meet France this Friday night.
Source: Thai News Agency
