By Martin Petty
(Reuters) – Slovenia’s Benjamin Verbic was a national hero last year and cried tears of joy when his stunning late goal against Kazakhstan fired his country into their first European Championship in two decades.
It was a different story against Portugal on Monday, when Verbic missed Slovenia’s third penalty in a row in a shootout, clearing the way for Bernardo Silva to convert the spot-kick that sent the Iberians into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
But unheralded Slovenia’s courage and never-say-die spirit against a Portugal side stacked with big names meant no blame on the players for the defeat.
The underdogs defended resolutely and had plenty of breaks of their own. They could have won it deep into extra time when Benjamin Sesko’s shot was brilliantly stopped by goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who saved all three spot-kicks in the shootout.
“When you’re out like that, you can only be proud. You saw the joy there was for the Portuguese at the end of the game. I think we’re all proud,” Verbic told Slovenian reporters.
“It’s hard to choose the words to describe the game. We really gave everything on the pitch.
“It’s a lottery, unfortunately it didn’t work out. We’re disappointed, but at the same time, proud of everything we’ve done,” the Panathinaikos midfielder said.
“Everyone who went to take a penalty showed that they wanted to help.”
Slovenia’s jubilant fans had a fiesta over what was the first appearance in the knockout rounds of a major tournament for a country one seventeenth of the size of Germany and with a population of just over two million people.
“We will never experience something like this again,” said defender Zan Karnicnik, who said the unwavering support of the travelling fans was phenomenal.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved. It’s sport, it gives you something once, it takes it away from you the next.”
(Reporting by Martin Petty, editing by Ed Osmond)
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