The dream union could happen! Arguably the best footballers ever – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – could play together at Camp Nou, Barcelona as per a report in AS. That is exactly what the newly-elected President of Barcelona Joan Laporta wants. Laporta wants to sign Ronaldo, but for that to happen the finances have to be worked out, as Ronaldo will not come easy.

Meanwhile, speculations about Ronaldo and Messi leaving their respective clubs have been rife since their early exit from the Champions League. While Ronaldo has been linked with Manchester United and PSG, Messi too, has been linked with PSG and Manchester City.

It would be interesting to see what future holds in store for the two modern legends. Also, Messi’s contract at the Camp Nou is actually set to expire at the end of the month and he’s yet to sign a new deal with the club. On the other hand, Ronaldo’s contract with Juventus ends next season.

Currently, both football icons are on national duty. While Ronaldo is featuring in the EURO 2020 for Portugal, Messi is a part of the Argentina side in the ongoing Copa America 2021. Both the players have been in top form and have been contributing to the victory of their respective sides.

It took Cristiano Ronaldo merely 15 minutes to break the deadlock against Germany in a Group F EURO 2020 match on Saturday (June 20). It was all about the striker’s awareness and his age-defying fitness that saw Ronaldo score the opening goal. CR7 was at the right place at the right time and all he had to do was tap in the ball to give Portugal the lead.

It was a stunning counter-attacking move from Portugal as they took full advantage of fewer players in the German box to get the lead. However, the interesting part about the goal was that Ronaldo started and finished a wonderful counter-attacking move.

The Portugal skipper cleared the ball from his own box before making a darting run forward and eventually scoring the opening goal for his side. Notably, 36-year-old Ronaldo hit a top speed of 32 km/h during his 92m run and covered the distance in just 14.2 seconds.

Interestingly, it was Ronaldo’s first-ever goal against Germany.

CR isn’t human!  pic.twitter.com/ApLvkueyfs

— Best of Football (@BestofFootball8) June 19, 2021

 

36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo cleared the ball from his own box and sprinted ahead of everyone on the pitch to score the opening goal for Portugal in less than 15 seconds. 

The GOAT.pic.twitter.com/fP9pA5vDf6

— Mu. (@FutbolMuu) June 19, 2021

 

Meanwhile, Germany, despite conceding the first goal, shrugged off their opening game loss and announced their arrival as serious contenders at Euro 2020 with an emphatic 4-2 win over highly-rated Portugal.

Ronaldo had given the defending champions a 15th-minute lead but Germany went in at the break 2-1 up thanks to own goals from Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro. The three-time European champions turned on the style in the second half with goals from Kai Havertz and the impressive Robin Gosens making it 4-1 before Diogo Jota pulled a goal back for Portugal.

The win moves Germany, who face Hungary in their final game, into second place in the group on three points, a point behind leaders France and level on points with the Portuguese. Hungary drew 1-1 with France earlier on Saturday.

Netizens are calling Portugal captain and star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo a ‘hypocrite’ after an old Coca-Cola advert has emerged showing him whole-heartedly endorsing the brand. This comes after he removed two Coke bottles from a Euro 2020 press conference and told viewers, ‘Drink water!’.

Ronaldo is one of the most supremely fit footballers even at the age of 36 years. The striker has time and again promoted a healthy lifestyle and the same was the case when on Tuesday (June 15) Ronaldo arrived at the press conference along with coach Fernando Santos. A couple of bottles of Coca-Cola were placed in front of him but Ronaldo decided to remove them from the camera angle altogether. He instead lifted a water bottle and asked everyone to ‘drink water’ instead.

Quite a few were left surprised seeing Ronaldo’s actions and while many fans and fitness enthusiasts praised Ronaldo for his actions, some netizens have now dug out an old advert of Ronaldo endorsing Coca Cola and now the people are calling the Juventus striker a ‘hypocrite’.

Here’s the video of young Ronaldo featuring in an ad for the soft drink brand during his early days in world football.

Here’s how netizens reacted to the old advertisement:

 

Hey google , what’s does a HYPOCRITE mean ? #Ronaldo #CocaCola pic.twitter.com/KSNCDGAci5

— Yeshwanth (@yesh2181) June 16, 2021

 

They used to be friends #Ronaldo #CocaCola https://t.co/WsxvjfFftm

— RJ Festejo (@RJFestejo) June 15, 2021

 

I wonder how much he got paid to advertise coke in Asia!! https://t.co/FipxfUx1kA

— Shane R (@ShaneRooD15) June 16, 2021

 

Let’s not forget that Ronaldo had once done an advert for Coca-cola.

So much for his supposedly hate for soda. https://t.co/B0qBBh4b31

— Your Online Vet (@danielaremson) June 16, 2021

Meanwhile, a day after football legend Cristiano Ronaldo removed the Coca-Cola bottles from his table ahead of a press-conference, the brand, which is one of the major sponsors of Euro 2020, took a major hit in its stock value. As per a report in The Daily Star, the prices of the beverage company dropped by 1.6 per cent and the value went down from USD 242 billion to USD 238 billion.