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Cristiano Ronaldo was denied from the penalty spot just six minutes into Portugal's narrow Nations League win over Denmark. The two sides met in the second leg of their quarter-final tie in Lisbon on Sunday with Denmark taking a 1-0 lead into the match after Rasmus Hojlund's winner in the first leg. However, Portugal were given the chance to level the tie inside the opening ten minutes. The hosts were awarded a spot-kick after Ronaldo was fouled inside the penalty area by Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu. A lengthy VAR review confirmed the on-field decision before the five-time Ballon d'Or winner stepped up from 12 yards. After a stutter in his run-up, though, Kasper Schmeichel comfortably saved Ronaldo's tame effort. The 40-year-old was left with his head in his hands as the Danish players rushed to their goalkeeper to celebrate. It is the 32nd missed penalty of Ronaldo's career from 204 attempts, nine of which have been for Portugal. His missed effort against Denmark followed another miss at Euro 2024 last summer, which left Ronaldo in tears before he scored in their shootout victory over Slovenia. The Al Nassr striker's first career penalty miss also came against the same opponents back in 2006. His poor effort came after Ronaldo had called for 'calm' ahead of the return leg. Speaking to reporters on Saturday ahead of the match, he explained: "I think it's unfair to criticise the coach [Roberto Martinez], because we're all in the same boat. "We lost the game and played badly, but we have the second leg tomorrow. Calm down. Think positive and think that things will go well. " Fortunately for the home side, they were able to take the lead before the interval after an own goal by Joachim Anderson. However, their captain's attempts to get on the scoresheet continued to be frustrated as he saw a goal not given for offside by the officials. Ronaldo had also been presented with an historic award prior to the match at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. He was given a standing ovation by the crowd as officials handed him the Guinness World Record for the most wins in an international career. His tally of 132 is more than any other player, having achieved that against Poland in November. Ronaldo scored twice and provided an assist in a 5-1 home victory during the group stage of the Nations League. The 132 wins have been spread across Ronaldo's 217 caps for Portugal, a record for the 2016 Euros winners. Despite an early setback for Ronaldo it proved to be a successful night for him and his nation as they went through after extra time. The Dane's equalised and went 2-1 up on aggregate through Rasmus Kristensen in the second half before Ronaldo got his 136th international goal on 72 minutes. His former Manchester United teammate Christian Eriksen saw Denmark go ahead once again on aggregate four minutes later. However, Francisco Trincao's 86th-minute goal saw the tie go to extra time. Trincao netted again early in extra time before Goncalo Ramos scored to seal a 5-3 aggregate win for Portugal. Germany await in the semi-finals after getting the better of Italy in their quarter-final tie. The semi-finals and final will take place in June. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

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