Many big names come to EURO 2024 with the mindset of “burning for the last time” because they understand that they no longer have the opportunity to win another major title with their national team. However, a happy ending will not be for everyone and Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos will forever be remembered as legends with incompleteness and regrets.

• Football stars speak out to defend Ronaldo after missing penalty

Ahead of EURO 2024, Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that the tournament in Germany will be his last time serving the Portuguese national team at the biggest football festival in the Old Continent. On the German side, Toni Kroos has also confirmed that he will officially retire, leaving his football career right after the home team’s journey ends. The ambition of both is a beautiful farewell in Berlin on July 14, the time of the EURO 2024 final.

Unfortunately, there was no happy ending as planned for both Ronaldo and Kroos. Portugal fell to France in a penalty shootout, while Germany, despite trying to force the match into extra time with a goal from Florian Wirtz in the 89th minute, suffered a bitter defeat just 1 minute before the penalty shootout.

Ronaldo, as usual, did everything he could, including taking his penalty in the shootout, but was “powerless” against a solid France. Similarly, Kroos alone was not enough as Germany’s midfield was stifled by Spain’s superior midfield.

When Diogo Costa failed to become a hero again, Ronaldo just stood there shaking his head but this time, he did not cry like when he missed a penalty in the round of 16 against Slovenia. Instead, Ronaldo went to Pepe, comforting his teammate who, despite being 41 years old, was still crying like a little boy. Kroos did not cry either, but his distant eyes could not hide his sadness. Not only him, the rare remaining members of the golden generation that won the 2014 World Cup of German football will also stop after EURO 2024. That is Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer, who will almost certainly say goodbye, with the only question being when.

Ronaldo ended his last EURO without a goal.

“Nobody has it all” and Ronaldo and Kroos will be the next two legends remembered for the unfinished and regretful moments in their illustrious careers. While their arch-rival Lionel Messi won the World Cup, on his way to winning his second Copa America with Argentina, Ronaldo finally “only” won the EURO once with Portugal. Kroos, like many other members of the golden generation of the German team, will forever be troubled by the lack of a European championship in his collection.

Football is always cruel like that and Ronaldo and Kroos are just the two latest “victims”. There will be regrets that perhaps both of these legends will remember forever, engraved in their memories of EURO 2024 for the rest of their lives. However, in the end, they can still be satisfied with what they have done throughout their careers, what they have contributed to the flag and the legacy they have left in football history.

Despite going through the last EURO of his career without scoring any goals, Ronaldo still has the right to be proud of his journey. From a 19-year-old “buffalo” kid in his first EURO of his career, Ronaldo became the only player in history to participate in 6 EUROs, and is also the greatest scorer in the history of the tournament with 14 goals.

At Ronaldo’s age, there aren’t many players left playing football, let alone daring to compete at the highest level. Yet Ronaldo remains steadfast in his captaincy, accepting the role of a foil for his juniors to shine, like the wing he took a run-up on but gave the right to take the free kick to Bruno Fernandes in the match against France. Meanwhile, every time Kroos touches the ball, every pass makes people click their tongues because he stopped too soon, at “only” 34 years old. Kroos will now stop as one of the legends of German and world football and of course, one of the best midfielders in the history of football.

Objectively speaking, Kroos’ return to the national team is like a savior for Germany. Never before have Germans been so pessimistic about a major tournament, held on home soil, like EURO 2024. They were eliminated from the group stage at the last two World Cups, showed a weak performance for many years and were even suspected of not being able to qualify if they were not the hosts of EURO. Yet thanks to Kroos, Germany won resoundingly in the group stage, overcoming Denmark and only stopping before an over-excited Spain.

In addition to Ronaldo and Kroos, EURO 2024 also witnessed the incomplete farewells of many other stars. The symbol of perseverance, Luka Modric was powerless before the burden of age when he could not even lead Croatia past the group stage. Kevin De Bruyne was like a lonely swallow, unable to carry the few remaining names from the “golden generation” further than the round of 16, or Robert Lewandowski was only Poland’s only hope. Football is like that and if everyone had a glorious and fulfilling career, the game would not be so attractive. Failure, tears and regret are part of life, not just football, which was clearly reflected at EURO 2024!