- Ronaldo’s heartbeat was lowest when he stepped up to take penalty in shootout
- The 39-year-old had earlier been denied by Jan Oblak but went on to score
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Cristiano Ronaldo‘s heart rate during Portugal’s Euro 2024 last-16 clash with Slovenia clash was at its lowest before he took their first penalty in the shootout, new data has revealed.
Portugal booked their place in the quarter-finals after winning via a penalty shootout thanks to goalkeeper Diogo Costa‘s heroics.
However, Roberto Martinez’s men had the opportunity to take the lead in extra-time when they were awarded a penalty after Diogo Jota was fouled inside the box.
Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty as he seeked to score his first goal in this year’s tournament after enduring a frustrating evening, but was denied by Slovenia’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
The 39-year-old had the chance to redeem himself as he stepped up to take Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout.
However, he was not fazed by the pressure as his heart-rate was under 100bpm, his lowest throughout the night, according to data provided by WHOOP.
The Al-Nassr forward scored this time, finding the bottom left corner despite Oblak diving the right way.
Bruno Fernandes then stepped up to take the second penalty and also scored, causing Ronaldo’s heartbeat to drop to around 125bpm.
Costa went on to save his third penalty of the night and Ronaldo was understandably more confident Portugal would win.
His heart rate then suddenly jumped to over 170bpm as Bernardo Silva was about to take the penalty which eventually sealed victory for Martinez’s side.
Ronaldo, as he usually does during matches, was wearing the WHOOP 4.0 strap under some wrist strapping.
‘Sometimes it’s hard and difficult to score penalties,’ Ronaldo told Portuguese broadcaster RTP after the match, getting emotional again. ‘I’ve scored more than 200 penalties in my career. Sometimes it’s a mess.’
He added: ‘We showed the enthusiasm that we still have to play, to have fun, to give joy to the fans and that’s it, this is our life,’ he said after it was all over, close to midnight in Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk’s data prior to the Netherlands’ 3-0 win over Romania has also been revealed.
The Liverpool defender slept for seven hours and 46 minutes the night before and then napped for just over 90 minutes in the late morning to gain additional recovery ahead of the game.
Van Dijk then recorded a 20.1 strain score – a way to quantify the amount of physical and mental stress you’re putting on your body – during the 90 minutes.