#4 Changing Portugal’s penalty order at Euro 2012
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After falling to defeat at the hands of Spain in the second round of World Cup 2010, Portugal were again faced with their neighbours in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 and this was Ronaldo’s big chance for revenge.
Despite Portugal largely bossing the game though, both normal time and extra time ended at 0-0, meaning a penalty shoot-out would be needed to separate the sides. Spain started off badly when Xabi Alonso missed the first spot-kick, but the rest of his teammates scored, while Portugal’s Joao Moutinho and Bruno Alves both missed. It meant Spain won the shootout 4-2 and Ronaldo – Portugal’s fifth penalty taker – wasn’t even needed.
So what went wrong? Essentially, Portugal’s penalty order went badly awry. After Moutinho missed and Pepe scored for Portugal, Alves stepped up to take the third penalty. Suddenly though Nani sprinted down the pitch and after some discussion, sent Alves back, taking the third penalty himself. Nani scored but Alves was clearly unnerved and ended up missing the decisive kick.
The word was that Ronaldo had changed the planned order to make sure he’d take the fifth – and what he thought was likely to be the decisive kick, looking to claim the glory. If this was the case then it’s perhaps his most cowardly moment ever, although he did somewhat make up for it with his Euro 2016 performances.
