It was a pitch-black evening for Cristiano Ronaldo in the round of 16 against Slovenia. He failed to score from a free kick, missed a potential winner and then missed a penalty. And the bitterest part is the comments on social media.
On this Monday evening, there wasn't much left of the supposedly best footballer of all time. Cristiano Ronaldo tried everything, but he just couldn't do anything. His free-kicks were disastrous and the multiple world footballer was unable to get past Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Then, out of nowhere, the chance to make amends presented itself. In extra time, the referee suddenly pointed to the penalty spot. As the VAR images show, it was a wrong decision as the ball did not touch the Slovenian's hand.
Ronaldo stands up and misses. Oblak is again the winner. He can't hold back his tears at the change of ends.
If you compare these scenes with those eight years ago at the 2016 European Championship final, it's like night and day. Back then, Ronaldo was whipping his teammates to victory from the bench, even injured.
This time, he remains a shadow of his former self. And yet he is undeterred by all the low blows in the penalty shoot-out. He is the first Portuguese player to step up to the spot. And this time he scores. Portugal wins the thriller and advances to the quarter-finals after all. A happy ending. But one that also brings a lot of malice on social media.
