Cristiano Ronaldo Finally Breaks Silence Following Portugal’s Loss to Belgium in Euro 2020 Round of 16

• Cristiano Ronaldo failed to inspire Portugal to reach the quarterfinal of Euro 2020 following their 1-0 loss to Belgium
• The captain has however congratulated their opponents for advancing to the next stage, but he thanked Portugal supporters
• Ronaldo stated that the squad could not reach where they all wanted, but offered what he described as a sincere and deep appreciation
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Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo has thanked the fans despite that the Selecao were knocked out of the ongoing Euro 2020 championships, SunSport reports.

The Ronaldo-captained side were handed a 1-0 defeat by impressive Belgium following a lone strike by Thorgan Hazard just three minutes before the end of the first half.

Portugal threw everything upfront in a bid to get the desired equalizer, but the Belgium defence was able to repel all attacks by their opponents.

The loss means Portugal crash out of the tournament and Ronaldo who equalled Ali Daei’s all-time international goal scorer’s record of 109 will miss out on a chance of breaking the record.

Reacting to their exit, CR7 wrote via Instagram:

“We didn't get the result we wanted and got out of the test before we wanted. But we are proud of our journey, we gave everything to renew the title of European Champions and this group proved that it can still give many joys to the Portuguese.

“Our supporters were tireless in supporting the team from start to finish. They were the ones we ran and fought for to match the trust they put in us. Couldn't get where we all wanted, but here's our sincere and deep appreciation.

“Congratulations to Belgium and good luck to all the teams continuing in the competition. As for us, we will come back stronger. Força Portugal!”

Ronaldo meets with Belgium players

Ronaldo however told Thibaut Courtois that he should count himself as a lucky man after Portugal were dumped out of Euro 2020 by Belgium, Sport Bible.

Courtois made a fine save from Ronaldo's set-piece and got lucky when Raphael Guerrero's shot hit the post late in the game.

The 36-year-old was heard telling Real Madrid number one that Belgium were "lucky" and that "[the ball] didn't want to go in today!" before wishing Courtois "good luck" for the rest of the tournament.

Ronaldo also exchanged pleasantries with Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne before heading straight into the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Portugal's quest to win their second consecutive European Championship title came to an abrupt end over the weekend after losing 1-0 to Belgium in their last-16 game.

Fernando Santos' men made serious attempts to find at least an equaliser all through the second half of the meeting but their best effort was denied by the woodworks.

The defeat however subjected the defending champions to tears with the Portuguese manager branding the result 'unfair' while addressing the media after the match.