Cristiano Ronaldo came to Portugal’s rescue with two penalties to cancel out a brace from France’s Karim Benzema in an enthralling 2-2 draw that sent both sides into the Euro 2020 last 16 in a frantic conclusion to Group F on Wednesday (June 23). An anxious night for the reigning European champions saw them occupy every position in the so-called group of death at various junctures but the 36-year-old Ronaldo, so often his country`s saviour, stepped up to reach another career milestone.

He had already become the highest-ever scorer in Euro finals with his double against Hungary in the opening game and his two spot-kick conversions – in the 31st and 60th minutes – took him to 109 international goals, level with the record number scored by Iran’s Ali Daei. Benzema’s first was also from the spot as for the first time in European Championship history three penalties were converted in regular time.

The Frenchman, recalled by manager Didier Deschamps for the tournament after a five-year exile, equalised on the stroke of halftime with his first France goal for five years and 258 days.

He put France ahead two minutes after the interval and with Hungary leading Germany at that point in the other game, Portugal were bottom of Group F and staring at the exit.

But Ronaldo coolly beat Hugo Lloris again from 12 yards and Portugal held on for the draw which means they finished on four points in third place and can now prepare for a last-16 clash against Belgium in Seville. World champions France topped a crazy group with five points and will take on Switzerland in Bucharest.

“It was a fight and it wasn’t easy. We gave them the two goals from mistakes. We tried to win it,” said France manager Didier Deschamps, whose side were in danger of a last-16 clash with England at Wembley when they fell behind. “It means we’re top and that`s the best position.”

The Euro 2020 format has been criticised but there is no doubt that it produced a gripping night in which every conceivable scenario seemed to come into play. Portugal needed only a draw to seal a last-16 spot but after bossing the first half with recalled Renato Sanches and Joao Moutinho commanding in midfield, they lived dangerously.

When the dust settled however, they will be in the business end of the tournament they won in 2016 by beating France. Manager Fernando Santos was impressed with the way his side rebounded after the 4-2 defeat by Germany.

“When I was asked what we had to do that was different from the game against Germany and I said it was to be like ourselves,” he said. “We were strong, consistent, with a great spirit. We can continue to improve.”

Portgual were awarded a penalty in the 27th minute after Hugo Lloris’s attempted punched clearance wiped out Danilo. Lloris was shown a yellow card before Ronaldo smashed the penalty into the corner.

Portugal began to swagger but they were pegged back when referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz deemed that Nelson Semedo had bundled over Kylian Mbappe on the stroke of halftime as he tried to latch on to Paul Pogba’s pass.

Benzema buried the penalty and two minutes after the break he was picked out by the influential Pogba again and the Real Madrid striker slotted the ball past Rui Patricio. But the game’s third penalty, awarded for a handball by Jules Kounde, gave Ronaldo the chance to beat Lloris again from the spot to register his fifth goal of the tournament and he was never going to miss.

Rui Patricio turned a spectacular Pogba effort against the woodwork seven minutes later but Portugal held on and got the added bonus of a late Germany equaliser that means they also avoided a last-16 meeting with England.

One of the biggest talking points of the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020 has been Cristiano Ronaldo’s action of keeping Coca-Cola bottles aside during a news conference and encourage people to drink water instead. Ronaldo’s actions have inspired other footballers liker Paul Pogba and Manuel Locatelli to do the same.

One of the fittest athletes in the world, Portugal striker Ronaldo’s simple gesture to promote a healthy habit ended up costing Coca-Cola big time. The soft drinks giants saw a dip in their shares as a staggering $4 billion was wiped off the brand’s net value after Ronaldo’s snub.

The video of the incident went viral on social media with fans transforming Ronaldo’s visuals into hilarious memes. One of the memes going viral in India is the ‘Jal lijiye’ meme inspired by a scene from the Bollywood movie ‘Vivah’ starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao.

The actress has reacted to the viral meme featuring her and Ronaldo and came up with a pun. “Wat’er Are U Saying,” she wrote reacting to the meme shared by a Twitter user.

Wat’er Are U Saying !!! https://t.co/DAs984Ayj2

— AMRITA RAO (@AmritaRao) June 16, 2021

After Ronaldo, Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli repeated the Portugal legend’s gesture in the post-match press conference after producing a Man-of-the-Match performance in the side’s clash against Switzerland on Wednesday. Locatelli, who scored two goals in the game, removed the Coca-Cola bottlers kept on the table and put water bottles in front to repeat Ronaldo’s gesture.

UEFA have now reminded the footballers about their sponsor commitments during the tournament. Football’s European governing body have warned that they might punish footballers if they continue to remove sponsor items during press conferences.

“UEFA has reminded participating teams that partnerships are integral to the delivery of the tournament and to ensuring the development of football across Europe, including for youth and women,” the tournament organisers said on Thursday.

Coca-Cola company continued to take one hit after another at the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020 tournament as another top footballer gave it the snub on Wednesday (June 18). Italy’s Manuel Locatelli, who was the start of his side’s win by scoring twice against Switzerland, followed the example set by Portugal’s superstar Cristiano Ronaldo by setting aside the Coca-Cola bottles out of the camera’s view before sitting down for the press conference.

Ronaldo had looked horrified when he spotted the fizzy drinks on the table when he spoke to the media earlier this week, placing them out of sight of the cameras and holding up his own bottle of water to the camera instead.

Ronaldo’s actions caused a major stir, with Coca-Cola’s share price falling by $4 billion as the world’s most famous footballer urged his millions of fans to ditch the drink in favour of water. There were similar scenes on Tuesday night when France midfielder Paul Pogba gave his own post-match press conference, though this time Manchester United’s devout Muslim removed a bottle of Heineken beer from the table.

Now Locatelli has become the third player to take on Euro 2020’s sponsors, removing two bottles of Coca-Cola from their place front and centre of the table and putting his own bottle of water directly in front of him instead.

Here’s the video of Locatelli press conference…

Locatelli following Ronaldo’s footsteps. Coca Cola gonna be a meme at this point pic.twitter.com/gK5wCKGM1v

— Abdul (@Abdul999_) June 16, 2021

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 $242 billion to $238 billion.

Ronaldo, who also appears to be one of the most fittest athlete, is not a fan of the carbonated soft drinks and endorsed people to consume water instead. The video of the incident went viral in no minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo was angry because they put Coca Cola in front of him at the Portugal press conference, instead of water!

He moved them and said “Drink water” pic.twitter.com/U1aJg9PcXq

— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) June 14, 2021

Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace against Hungary in their opening game of Euro 2020 in Budapest on Tuesday (June 15) and in the process, the star striker moved beyond France’s Michel Platini as the record goalscorer at the European Championship finals, taking his tally to 11 at the Puskas Area in Budapest on Tuesday. 

Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most supremely fit footballer even at the age of 36 years. No wonder that heading into his fifty Euro Championships, Ronaldo still remains one of the most feared strikers in the world.

Ronaldo and Portugal will open the defence of the UEFA Euro Championships crown against Hungary on Tuesday (June 15) night at the Ferenc Puskas stadium in Budapest. Ahead of the clash, the Juventus striker attended a press conference on Monday.

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. Even coach Santos looked a little surprised to see Ronaldo removing the two bottles of Coca-Cola in front of him. Here’s the video:

Cristiano Ronaldo was angry because they put Coca Cola in front of him at the Portugal press conference, instead of water!

He moved them and said “Drink water” pic.twitter.com/U1aJg9PcXq

— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) June 14, 2021

Ronaldo has set the benchmark for an top-class footballer over his long and illustrious career.  Ronaldo had previously opened about his dislike for junk food. The Juventus star has explained his son about the same a few times too.

“I’m tough with my son,” Cristiano had recently said. “Sometimes he drinks Coca-Cola and Fanta, he eats crisps and he knows I don’t like it.”

Ronaldo said on Monday he was looking forward to beginning Euro 2020 in front of a packed Puskas Arena against Hungary as he prepares to lead defending champions Portugal. Ronaldo’s Portugal have been placed in Group F which is being labelled as ‘Group of Death’ in Euro 2020. The group has giants like France and Germany alongside Portugal while Hungary is the fourth team.

Portugal, who are the defending champions, had beaten France in the final in 2016 to lift the trophy. Ronaldo would be determined to repeat the same this time around and also try to add a few more personal feathers to his decorated cap.

Among the biggest targets for Ronaldo in Euro 2020 is to surpass Ali Daei’s tally of international goals. The Iran legend has 109 goals for his country in professional football to his name while Ronaldo is presently sitting on 104.