The football icon had an early spot-kick saved during Portugal's 5-2 win (5-3 on aggregate) over Denmark on Sunday (23.03.25) but had no doubt that his team would progress in the competition.

Ronaldo told reporters: "I felt that even after missing the penalty - [it happens] only to those who try - we would progress in the tie.

"That's what happened. It was a spectacular night, Portugal played very well; scoring five goals against Denmark is not easy at all. We all deserve congratulations: the players, those who were at the stadium, all the Portuguese. We are all in the same boat and it was very important to progress to the final four."

Ronaldo had been highly critical of the team after they were beaten 1-0 in the first leg of the tie last week but was quick to defend his team-mates after they roared back to set up a semi-final showdown against Germany.

The Al-Nassr star said: "There are games like that, there are bad days.

"I didn't play at all, the team didn't play at all, but it's part of life. I want to leave the [Lisbon's] Alvalade Stadium with my head held high."

Ronaldo has played over 200 times for his country and revealed last year that he had no plans to retire from international duty despite a disappointing Euro 2024 where he failed to score a single goal.

He said last September: "That's all from the press. It never crossed my mind that my cycle [with Portugal] had come to an end. Quite the opposite: it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest.

"The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League. ... We've already won it once and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again, but I don't think long term, it's always short term."