Manchester United star Diogo Dalot dropped huge praise on one Portugal teammate after his country’s hard-fought Euro 2024 win against Slovenia on Monday evening.
Portugal punched their ticket to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany after coming out on top against Slovenia in a superb penalty shootout.
Roberto Martinez’s men struggled to break the deadlock in regular playing time and Slovenia pushed Portugal to the limit in the round-of-16 clash.
Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo also broke down in tears after he was denied from the spot-kick by Jan Oblak in the first half of extra time.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up for Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout and the Al Nassr superstar redeemed himself from the spot-kick.
Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, much like Ronaldo, both stepped up in the penalty shootout and beat Slovenia No 1 Jan Oblak from the spot-kick.
Portugal ensured their place in the quarter-finals thanks to Diogo Costa, who superbly saved all three of Slovenia’s penalties in the last-16 clash.
Dalot praises Portugal star
Portugal’s win at Eintracht Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park has now set up a showdown with France in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on 5th July.
Roberto Martinez’s side are considered one of the favourites to win this summer’s Euros, but Portugal have delivered up-and-down performances at the tournament.
Portugal narrowly edged out Turkey to finish top of Group F, despite suffering a shock 2-0 defeat to Georgia ahead of the Slovenia match.
Diogo Dalot was on the bench for Portugal during the tie against Slovenia, with the Manchester United star spotted consoling Cristiano Ronaldo during the match.
The 25-year-old Portugal international took to Instagram Stories and praised his teammate Diogo Costa for his heroics during the penalty shootout.
Dalot shared a picture of the pair hugging before adding the message of “enorme” in Portuguese, which translates to ‘huge’ in English.
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Martinez echoes Dalot’s praise for Costa
Speaking after the Slovenia match, Portugal boss Martinez suggested that Costa could be the Euro 2016 champions’ “secret” weapon at the tournament.
“I think Portugal’s secret is Diogo Costa. Diogo Costa is the most hidden secret in European football and today he showed up,” he said, as per the Metro.
‘Today, I think he reached a completely different level. The one-on-one situation was incredible.
“Then he had the focus to make three consecutive saves. We have to be very proud of him.”