Cristiano Ronaldo had a night to remember for all the wrong reasons during Portugal's match against Georgia, which was capped off by a near-collision with an overzealous fan.
Portugal suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Euro 2024 underdogs in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Wednesday. Ronaldo struggled to make his mark on the soccer game before being substituted, and his exit from the field was met with visible frustration.
The evening took a turn for the worse when a fan jumped from the stands at the Veltins Arena and almost hit the Real Madrid and Manchester United icon. A video on social media shows the fan leaping feet-first from the stands, narrowly missing Ronaldo.
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A quick-thinking steward managed to shield the Portuguese forward from the fan. Ronaldo appeared taken aback by the incident but thankfully did not sustain any injuries. The close call only added to the veteran player's vexation.
He failed to score, marking the first time he has not found the back of the net in the group stages of a major international tournament. Ronaldo was substituted in the 66th minute.
His only notable contribution to the game was receiving a yellow card for vehemently protesting after Pedro Neto was denied a penalty. Ronaldo continued to argue even after VAR had reviewed and dismissed the incident.
Portugal's coach Roberto Martinez defended Ronaldo's reaction, stating: "We weren't lucky and then the VAR wasn't consistent, because there's a situation with Cristiano. We're talking about what VAR can do. You can look back and give a penalty. The situation in the 27th minute is even clearer, more of a penalty than the one we suffered.
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"It was the worst result. It was a game in which we started badly. Conceding the goal really highlighted what the opponent wanted to do. We always had a good attitude, looking at the goal and trying to score the goal.
"Today Georgia had the key moments, the second goal, all the goalkeeper's energy and performance. We need to congratulate them. And now it's time to look to the round of 16 and have the team better prepared. We don't want to lose, but we have all the players.
"We continued to try to control the game, but when the opponent has an advantage to defend it's different. They have belief and strength. We started and it was another game, it wasn't a game that we needed to win."