Portuguese dreams of winning Euro 2012 were “stopped dead by a crossbar”, the country’s press said virtually in unison on Thursday, hailing the side’s efforts to get so close to the final.

The Diario de Noticias carried a photo of an anguished Bruno Alves being consoled by coach Paulo Bento after his miss paved the way for Spain to convert their last spot-kick and send the holders to the final once more.

“The Selecao were just centimetres (inches) from the final,” the sporting daily A Bola said across its front page under a photo of the dejected Portugual team at the end of the encounter in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday night.

But the newspaper said the team was “the pride of Portugal”.

“We’ve all hit the crossbar,” lamented sports paper Record on its front page, showing a picture of Alves as his spot kick crashed against the horizontal.

“Only penalties could get the team out of the Euros,” it added, dedicating its inside pages to thanking the players.

“Portugal’s game was touching perfection,” the daily said, adding: “Glory was so close. We lacked lady luck and she stayed on the side of the champions.”

Publico for its part reminded readers that “Portugal were neck-and-neck for 120 minutes with the world champions”.

The team’s star, Cristiano Ronaldo “didn’t make his presence felt during the tie and didn’t have the chance to take part in the penalties”, it added.

The tabloids Correio da Manha and Jornal de Noticias both said the team were unlucky.

“Spain won the lottery,” said the Jornal de Noticias. “The Portuguese team fought to the end... They just failed to win the lottery of penalties.”

Both newspapers said the players had nothing to be ashamed of, extending their thanks and congratulations in headlines.

“Portugal can pride itself on having a world-class side. The country’s proud of them,” they added.