Ronaldo ‘sad’ after night to forget at Euro 2016

Portugal 0 Austria 0

Belgium 3 Ireland 0

Paris, France | AFP |

Cristiano Ronaldo crashed a penalty against the woodwork, blowing the chance to write his name into European Championship history, as Portugal stumbled to a second draw against Austria.

Ronaldo was foiled again in his bid to become the first player to score at four consecutive European Championship finals.

Penalty despair… and joy. #PORAUT pic.twitter.com/9b0ViqLKAZ

— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) June 18, 2016

He at least set a new national record, making his 128th appearance for Portugal on Saturday to overtake Luis Figo. But the Real Madrid superstar will have bitter memories of the night after missing the 79th-minute spot kick.

Austrian goalkeeper Robert Almer went the wrong way, but Ronaldo’s shot came off the post.

“Obviously it was a goal to be the most capped international player, and also to be the national team’s top scorer,” Ronaldo said.

“But obviously I’m a bit sad, because this wasn’t the way I wanted to break this record. The most beautiful way would have been ,” he added shaking his head.

“Obviously it wasn’t something we wanted,” he said of the result. “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 other chances. But that’s part of football. We need to continue to believe.”

The 0-0 draw at the Parc des Princes leaves Hungary, who gained a point in a 1-1 draw with Iceland, as the surprise Group F leaders with a game to play. Austria must win their final match to avoid going home.

While it was a frustrating night for Ronaldo, Belgium finally clicked after losing their opener to Italy as they crushed the Republic of Ireland 3-0 in Group E.

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku scored a classy opener and added a second in Bordeaux while Alex Witsel also netted as Belgium finally showed why some observers have tipped them as outsiders for the title.

Despite being outclassed, Ireland and captain John O’Shea expressed confidence they could still beat group winners Italy in their final group game on Thursday to reach the last 16.

“We have a big chance now against Italy,” O’Shea said. “With a bit more discipline and control we can get something against Italy.

“We dust ourselves down, see how everybody is and go for Italy in Lille.”

Ronaldo selfie

In Paris, Portugal coach Fernando Santos refused to say how Ronaldo was feeling after his second disappointing display in the tournament.

“I prefer not to talk about this subject,” Santos said.

At the end of the match, Ronaldo made a fan who ran onto the pitch happy by allowing him to take a selfie before the man was bundled away by security guards.

Nani had hit a post before three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo was left shaking his head in disbelief as he smacked the ball against the base of the post after he had been fouled by Martin Hinteregger.

Portugal need to beat Hungary in the impressive Stade de Lyon on Wednesday to be sure of qualifying from a group that they had been expected to dominate.

Hungary, playing in their first international tournament since the 1986 World Cup, needed an own goal from Iceland’s Birkir Savarsson in the dying seconds to rescue a 1-1 draw in Marseille.

The result keeps both teams’ hopes alive of a place in the knockout round.

A first-half penalty by Gylfi Sigurdsson put Iceland on course for their own fairytale win. But the European Championship newcomers succumbed to waves of Hungarian pressure.

With 88 minutes gone, substitute Nemanja Nikolic sent a low ball into the area and the onrushing Savarsson directed the ball into his own net.

“It feels like a loss, we were so close, we were going for the three points, but we failed to finish the game off,” said man of the match, Iceland striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

Iceland fans were involved in ugly clashes at the Stade Velodrome as match stewards tried to stop them crossing a fence to join their fellow supporters.

UEFA meanwhile started disciplinary proceedings against Croatia and Turkey for flare-throwing incidents in matches Friday.

*****

Messi record as Argentina thrash Venezuela

Lionel Messi scored a record-equalling 54th international goal as Argentina outclassed Venezuela 4-1 to book their place in the semi-finals of the Copa America Centenario here Saturday.

The Barcelona superstar scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the 60th minute at the Gillette Stadium to equal Gabriel Batistuta’s long-time Argentina international goalscoring record.

Messi also created a goal for Gonzalo Higuain, who scored twice, and second half substitute Erik Lamela as Argentina set up a semi-final against the United States in Houston on Tuesday.

Afterwards Messi played down his goalscoring milestone.

“I’m happy for what it means and it’s nice to be next to ‘Batigol’ (Batistuta), but for me tonight the most important thing is the result,” Messi said.

Messi is determined to lead Argentina to their first trophy in 23 years after a series of agonizing near-misses which include defeats in the finals of last year’s Copa America and the 2014 World Cup final.

“I think people sometimes overlook that we got to two finals, and only focus on the fact that we lost,” Messi said.

“For us to be back in another semi-final of a big tournament like this one is a great achievement for these players.”