CRISTIANO Ronaldo wiped the tears from his eyes after Portugal scrambled through to the last eight.
Ronaldo’s extra-time spot kick miss – after a shocking decision by Italian ref Daniele Orsato – left the old stager crying with despair.
10Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the shootout
10Diogo Costa was the shootout hero
10The keeper saved a European Championship record three penalties
He would have been bawling all night had Benjamin Sesko not missed an absolute sitter after Ronaldo’s fellow veteran Pepe fell over the ball.
But Diogo Costa saved three in a row from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic to make European Championship history.
And after Ronaldo scored – and apologised to the Portuguese fans – Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva following his example to earn a last eight showdown with France on Friday.
It ensured Ronaldo was bailed out for his blunder – from a penalty that should never have been given 12 minutes into the added 30 minutes.