Slovenian fans held up Lionel Messi shirts and chanted his name to mock Cristiano Ronaldo, after CR7 continuously missed opportunities against Slovenia.

Slovenian fans held up Lionel Messi shirts and chanted his name to mock Cristiano Ronaldo, after CR7 continuously missed opportunities against Slovenia.

PANORAMAAt his sixth European Championship, 39-year-old Ronaldo failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament for the first time in his career. Luck did not seem to be with him when the knockouts began for the Portuguese team, as he continuously missed opportunities with shots, headers and free kicks that missed the target or hit goalkeeper Jan Oblak directly. In the final seconds of the first half of extra time, Ronaldo was awarded a penalty after Diogo Jota was fouled. He scored 13 consecutive penalties for Portugal, but Oblak successfully countered and pushed the ball into the post, causing Ronaldo to become very sad and shed tears during the short break. In the end, he had the last laugh, as the Portuguese team won the penalty shootout.

DO YOU KNOW?This is not the first time Ronaldo has been ridiculed by fans singing Messi’s name. The taunts have been going on for more than a decade, especially during Euro 2012, Euro 2016 and during the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Previously in 2024, CR7 was also fined and banned from football authorities in Saudi Arabia as he reacted to these chants from Al-Shabab fans during a match for Al-Nassr.

FUTURE OF RONALDO & PORTUGAL TEAM?Ronaldo and Portugal will continue to compete at Euro 2024, mainly thanks to the outstanding performances of Diogo Costa, who successfully saved three penalties and a one-on-one finish to deny the striker. Slovenia Benjamin Sesko in extra time. They are now through to the quarter-finals and will face Kylian Mbappe’s France in Hamburg on July 5.