Cristiano Ronaldo will play at what will in all likelihood be his last European Championship this summer - however, that’s something we’ve said before.
The 39-year-old is in search of another international trophy at Euro 2024 to add to his collection and sit next to his Euro 2016 and the Nations League medals.
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That title in 2016, though, very nearly didn’t happen because of Ronaldo himself.
Portugal had a shocking group stage in France, drawing all three of their group stage matches.
They scraped through to the knockout stages of the tournament by virtue of goal difference.
Things could have been so much easier had Ronaldo converted a penalty in their match against Austria.
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The then 31-year-old had an 80th minute spot kick to seal all three points and virtually assure their passage to the last-16.
However, Ronaldo uncharacteristically clattered the penalty against the post.
More concerning was just how passive the then Real Madrid superstar had been during the match. Column inches were filled in national newspapers about his star being on the wane and if this would be his last tournament.
He was publicly backed by manager Fernando Santos as still being Portugal’s penalty taker.
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“If there is a penalty in the next game, Cristiano Ronaldo will take it and he will score,” he said. “He is used to scoring goals, he is a winner and he also reacts well when he makes a mistake. That is what we expect from him.”
Ronaldo broke the Portugal appearance record in that match and said: “It’s a reason to be proud. It was a goal to be the most capped international player and to be the national team’s top scorer. But I’m a bit sad because this wasn’t the way I wanted to break this record. We wanted to win. This was not how I envisaged it.
“We had a lot of chances and we did well but we weren’t able to finish. I also missed some chances – a penalty and some others. But that’s part of football. We need to continue to believe, and once again we thank the Portuguese fans who were here and also the ones who were supporting us from elsewhere. I’m sure Portugal will give their best in the next match and, if you try, you’ll always make it.”
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Ronaldo did go on to score twice in their next match, a 3-3 draw with Hungary, including the all-important third to equaliser.
The rest, as they say, is history. In the last-16, they scraped through in extra-time against Croatia before beating Poland on penalties.
They beat Wales in the semi-final, before defeating hosts France in the final. Although Ronaldo did have to come off after just 25 minutes with an injury.
Now eight years later, Portugal must overcome Czech Republic, Turkey and Georgia to reach the knockout stages and will be hoping for smoothing sailing.