HAMBURG, Germany (AP) – This time, it wasn’t Cristiano Ronaldo shedding tears.

Instead, the Portuguese superstar found himself comforting a tearful teammate after a heartbreaking exit from what could be their last European Championship – and perhaps their final major international tournament.

Pepe, the 41-year-old defender still performing admirably for his country, was despondent as he cried on Ronaldo’s shoulder for about 15 seconds following Portugal’s penalty-shootout defeat to France in the quarterfinals in Hamburg on Friday.

Two Portuguese legends. A combined age of 80. It was quite a scene.

“Soccer can be so cruel,” Pepe remarked.

Ronaldo had his moment of tears at Euro 2024 after having a penalty saved during extra time in the round of 16 match against Slovenia just four days earlier. He also cried at the 2022 World Cup after Portugal’s quarterfinal loss to Morocco. Perhaps he had run out of tears, as this time he simply gazed skyward, looking disappointed and contemplative.

Ronaldo will be 41 by the time the next major tournament, the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, takes place.

Can he make it until then?

Well, he remɑins the captain of his national team, holding the mеn’s records for 130 international goals and 212 international appearances.

He continues to play full matches for his country. The only time he didn’t complete a game at Euro 2024 was in the group stage against Georgia, when he was substituted in the 66th minute with Portugal assured of advancing. He played the full 120 minutes against both Slovenia and France.

And he still commands immense respect from his teammates and coach, Roberto Martinez.

However, Ronaldo, now playing club football away from the global spotlight in Saudi Arabia, has not scored in his last eight major tournament games. This includes all five of Portugal’s matches at Euro 2024 and their final three at the World Cup in Qatar.

He was largely contained by French center backs William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, with his only clear opportunity coming in extra time when he finally got free but failed to direct a shot on target from a right-wing cross.

Ronaldo scored his penalty in the shootout, but it wasn’t enough. He then took on the role of comforting Pepe.

“I won’t sɑy publicly what he said to me,” Pepe told Canal 11. “But we feel it deeply. Contrary to what many believe, we feel it deeply.

“We feel the pɑin of not winning, of being eliminated in such a prestigious competition like the European Championship, especially knowing we had the quality to advance. That’s the pɑin we feel.”

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez shared these sentiments, describing the tears as tears of frustration.

“When you face stronger opposition, there are no tears, but this is hard to accept,” he said.

Martinez also mentioned that Ronaldo had not yet made a decision about his international future, noting that emotions were still too raw and that Portugal was “suffering a defeat as a team – there are no individual decisions at this point.”

Pepe was a bit more forthcoming, though he left his future ambiguous.

“I will speak about it in the future,” he said. “I don’t want to discuss it now because tomorrow people might talk about my future instead of this process.”

Ronaldo ends his European Championship career with a record 14 goals, five more than his closest competitor, Michel Platini, who scored all his goals in one tournament – Euro 1984, including two hat tricks.

Ronaldo is the only player to have participated in six editions of the European Championship, having scored in each one before Euro 2024 in Germany.

However, Euro 2024 proved to be one tournament too many.