Germany’s hero against Portugal: I didn’t ask Ronaldo for his shirt

Robin Gosens and Cristiano Ronaldo know each other as they both play in Serie A. Well, Gosens knows Ronaldo well, but the Portuguese is not maybe that familiar with the works of a new German star. The Atalanta full back once tried to take Ronaldo’s shirt after the game, but was rebuffed. Now, after the ‘man of the match’ award in the thrilling 4-2 victory over Portugal, Gosens didn’t make the same mistake twice.

Cristiano Ronaldo tried his best, but Portugal couldn’t handle the red-hot Germans

The German produced a man of the match performance and added another goal, which puts him right on level with Bastian Schweinsteiger, the last German to be directly involved in three goals in a European Championship match.

"This feels unreal, an unbelievable evening on all levels for me. You can't ask for more than that. That was passionate, a huge game from us. We threw everything into it. There was real pressure. If we hadn't taken the three points, it would have been a different story. In the end I didn’t ask Ronaldo for the shirt, I want to enjoy the victory and this evening. I didn’t look for it” said Gosens to Sky Sports Italia.

What’s even more impressive is that the Atalanta full back got the man of the match performance even thou he only played for one hour. He was subbed in the 62nd minute, to the shock of his teammate Thomas Muller.

“How can you leave the field after 60 minutes?” he asked to which Gosens replied: “It’s better to have good 60 minutes, than bad 90 minutes”. After the match, Muller told the press: “No wonder he only lasted 60 minutes, he plays in Italy”.

Bayern’s midfielder was obviously very happy with a win over current European champions.

"We are allowed to feel a little euphoria. It's just fun playing in this atmosphere. The cauldron is bubbling. Now we have the three points, we are well in the tournament and have it in our own hands. We mustn't get carried away and become arrogant -- but we must believe in our quality" said Muller.

Finally, after five games and 375 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo scored against Germany, but his teammates scored two own goals to deny the Juventus star. Coach Fernando Santos said he was proud of his team's efforts to fight until the end despite the disappointment of the defeat, and also texted Angela Merkel after the match.

“Today is a day to cry but we have to turn it around, with that same fighting spirit, in Budapest. It’s the smile of trust in a team that hasn’t given up, that plays against Germany and fights until the end. I am proud of that. Would I have preferred to have won? Of course. But we must be proud of how we battled until the end. I sent a message to Merkel to congratulate her. What matters now is that we do the same fight until the end for this Wednesday. The Portuguese people are with the team. It’s in these difficult times we must unite and give strength to each other. We were winning for 1-0 and ended up losing 2-4, it’s not the result we wanted” said Santos.

With three points on the board going into the final game, Portugal still need to fight to seal their place in the last 16. However they face a tough test against France who will be looking to bounce back from their draw with Hungary.