Roberto Martinez paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo's character and Diogo Costa's penalty shootout heroics after Portugal scraped through to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
The 2016 champions were given an almighty scare by a stubborn Slovenia, who kept them at bay for 120 minutes at Frankfurt Arena - thanks largely to Jan Oblak in goal.
The Atletico Madrid stopper reduced Ronaldo to tears when he saved his tame penalty in the first half of extra time. However, the Portugal skipper made no mistake in the shootout, where Diogo Costa took centre stage.
The Porto goalkeeper, who produced a crucial save to deny Benjamin Sesko in the second half of extra time, then kept out all three Slovenia kicks from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic.
And Martinez was full of admiration for the efforts of both players.
"Ronaldo missed a penalty and then was decisive when he started the penalty shoot-out, he paved the way," the Portugal head coach told EURO2024.com.
"It was a victory for unity, from the dressing room and Cristiano is our captain. He showed that in life and in football, there are difficult moments and we can't give up, we have to keep going and it was a demonstration of what to do when things aren't going well."
"We worked very well, the energy, strength and passion in the dressing room to win a game like that is incredible."
On Diogo Costa, Martinez added: "The secret of Portugal is Diogo Costa, he's the most hidden secret in European football.
"Today, he appeared on a different level, he was incredible in the one-on-one situation [with Sesko], and then he had the focus and quality to make three consecutive saves in the shootout. We have to be very proud of him."
Diogo Costa became the first goalkeeper to ever save three penalties in a European Championship shootout.
"This is probably the best game of my life," he said. "I focused on doing what I had to do. I went with my gut feeling. Of course, we analysed the penalty takers, but players change, and they change how they shoot.
"I am very happy and very excited to have helped the team. These are the hardest games as I barely touched the ball, but the hard work paid off.
"We all felt we needed to keep believing [after Ronaldo's first penalty]. We believed until the very end, and we're all very happy."
Colorado Rapids v Sporting Kansas City: Vermes want players to take responsibility ahead of road trip
Peter Vermes urged his Sporting Kansas City players to take responsibility for their own position ahead of the upcoming MLS road trip to Colorado Rapids.
SKC ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Austin FC in their last encounter, just their second victory in 15 league games.
Kansas City are still bottom of the Western Conference and 11 points adrift of the playoff spots, though Vermes is desperate for fighting spirit ahead of a testing schedule.
"We can't wait, we have a lot of games that are important coming up," SKC head coach Vermes said at his pre-match media availability.
"Each game has its own importance to it, this all started last week but we need to keep going.
"We go in with a plan, we have an idea, it sometimes comes down to how the guys recover. Hopefully no one gets injured, but also just minutes – it's going to be really important.
"Each guy himself has to be ready for the responsibility of the position and knowing what we do when we have the ball, when we don't, they have to go into the game with that.
"We don't have a lot of training time in between games, so they all have to be ready for that."
The Burgundy Boys will be out to extend their home unbeaten run to five games in this clash, though they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC last time out on the road.
Colorado are fourth in the West standings but nine points adrift of the top two, a gap they will hope to shorten at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro
Rafael Navarro has scored in each of his last five home appearances for the Rapids, and will fancy his chances of extending an impressive run this time around.
The only players with a longer streak in regular-season play in Colorado's history are Diego Rubio (six in 2022) and Mark Chung (also six in 2003).
Sporting Kansas City – William Agada
Goals have been hard to come by for the Kansas City side, with William Agada leading the way this season in MLS with five strikes.
Agada has managed that tally from 20 games, averaging a goal every four matches, but will hope to add to his scoring returns in Colorado.
MATCH PREDICTION – COLORADO RAPIDS WIN
The Rapids are the favourites for victory on home soil in this clash, owing to a remarkable head-to-head record in meetings between this pair.
Colorado are unbeaten in 10 straight regular-season home matches against SKC (W5 D5) and have lost only two of their 28 home league matches against them since August 2000 (W13 D13).
This will also be Colorado’s third Independence Day meeting with Sporting, having won in both 2003 and 2005, with the expectation that history will repeat itself here.
SKC are hardly in fine form either, having managed just their second win last time out in their previous 15 MLS matches (D2 L11).
However, they managed the club's first clean sheet since a scoreless draw at LAFC on March 9, and will hope to build on that performance here.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids win – 48.2%
Draw – 25.9%
Sporting Kansas City win – 25.9%
Pedri urges Barcelona to make 'spectacular signing' of Spain team-mate Williams
Pedri hopes Spain team-mate Nico Williams will soon join him at Barcelona after the pair's quest for Euro 2024 glory is over.
The youthful La Roja duo have been integral to Spain's perfect start at the international tournament in Germany, winning all four matches to reach the quarter-finals.
Williams netted a fine solo goal in Sunday's 4-1 hammering of Georgia, becoming the first player on record at the Euros (since 1980) to score, assist and complete 100% of his passes (46/46) in a game he started.
Germany await for Luis de la Fuente's side on Friday in the last eight, yet regardless of that result, Pedri wants to be playing in LaLiga with winger Williams next season.
Barcelona have been linked with a move for the Athletic Bilbao forward, with Liverpool reportedly also interested, and fellow Spain winger Lamine Yamal has already endorsed a move to the Blaugrana.
Pedri echoed Yamal's sentiment, telling Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo that Williams joining would mark a significant acquisition for Barcelona.
"We don't talk about it much. It's a decision that he and Barca have to make," the midfielder said. "Yes, it's clear that he would be a spectacular signing.
"We're already seeing what he's doing at the Euros. Hopefully he can be with us, but we don't know yet because he has a contract with Athletic.
"Whatever has to happen, will happen."
Chelsea are also said to have an interest in Williams, who has three years left on his contract in Bilbao.
Williams, who plays club football with brother Inaki, previously suggested his future remains at his current club, rather than elsewhere.
"I am very happy in Bilbao and that is all I have to say," Williams said in an interview last month. "Yes, I am quite clear, in the end, as I have told you, Athletic is my home."
Ronaldo backed by former team-mate Brown for Euro 2024 recovery due to unrivalled mentality
Cristiano Ronaldo will bounce back from his Euro 2024 disappointment and find form due to his elite mentality, according to former Manchester United team-mate Wes Brown.
The Portugal captain is the record appearance maker (29) and goalscorer (14) at the Euros, yet has failed to find the back of the net in this edition of the competition.
Ronaldo was reduced to tears after his penalty was saved by Jan Oblak in extra time before making amends and scoring in their last-16 penalty shoot-out win over Slovenia.
That brought questions once more over the veteran forward's ability and influence for Roberto Martinez's side, who face France in the quarter-finals on Friday.
However, Brown, who spent six years with Ronaldo at Manchester United, believes his former team-mate has the mentality to recover and prove his doubters wrong in Germany.
"Mentality [wise], there's no one better," Brown said, speaking to Stats Perform at the Home of Adidas football in Berlin.
"He'd be disappointed he didn't score the penalty in normal time, that would have frustrated him, but there were a lot of people I was talking to, and they thought he might not even start games.
"I totally disagreed and thought he's still got it to perform. He will be disappointed he's not scored, but he's a team player, he's won the competition before, and he just wants to do well, helping the team.”
Though the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has a list of records to his name, he has added some unwanted statistics to his displays after an underwhelming Euro 2024.
Ronaldo is the biggest expected goals (xG) underperformer in the tournament (0 goals from 2.75 xG), while he has had nine shots on target, which is the joint-highest along with Germany's Kai Havertz.
No player has had as many shots as Ronaldo during UEFA's flagship international competition either. He is five clear of any other player, while only Havertz has a higher xG (3.6 to Ronaldo’s 2.75).
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