“I was crying with him because I love him” - Tennis star Ons Jabeur on Cristiano Ronaldo missing penalty vs Slovenia at Euro 2024

Tennis player Ons Jabeur has opened up about how she felt when Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in Portugal's EURO 2024 clash against Slovenia (July 1). The Round of 16 match might not have gone to penalties if the legendary striker buried his effort from 12 yards. However, his penalty was saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Ronaldo is yet to score in the competition, and if the Selecao are knocked out before he does so, it will be the first time he has not scored in six editions of the EUROs. The forward had a number of half chances to potentially find the net against Slovenia, but the opposition defense did not make it easy.

In extra-time, Diogo Jota was brought down in the penalty area, leaving Ronaldo to secure the win from the spot. However, his shot into the right bottom corner was saved by Oblak, who guessed correctly to deny the legendary striker.

Jabeur was asked about EURO 2024 after her Wimbledon win against Robin Montgomery on July 4. She revealed that seeing the Portugal captain cry inconsolably made her cry as well (via Daily Mail):

"I was watching Portugal last time (on Monday). When Cristiano missed the penalty, I was crying with him because I love him so much. The emotion of the sport, it´s unbelievable. What I love the most is the crowd, they really were supporting him, how strong mentally he is after missing the penalty and then scoring again is unbelievable."

Although Ronaldo missed his spot-kick in extra-time, Portugal still won the Round of 16 encounter. The hero on the day was goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who saved three penalties in the penalty shootout, pushing the Selecao to the EURO 2024 quarter-finals.

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Former Manchester United coach questions Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal starting lineup for EURO 2024

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen worked with Cristiano Ronaldo during his first stint at Old Trafford. However, Meulensteen does not think the 39-year-old starting for Portugal at Euro 2024 has been beneficial, especially when it comes to free-kicks.

In a conversation with talkSPORT, he was asked by co-host Alex Crooks (via Mirror):

"Are they a better team without him in it, Portugal? He takes every free kick, blazes every free kick into the stands."

Meulensteen responded:

"Yeah well, that to me is something I think that needs to be addressed because the stats don't help."

The focus for Cristiano Ronaldo will be leading Portugal into their Euro 2024 quarter-final clash against France on Friday, July 5. The Portuguese beat the French 1-0 in the 2016 final, with Eder scoring in the 109th minute.