Portugal’s team skipper Cristiano Ronaldo uncovered a mouth-watering low on the international scene of the game with Portugal crashing to a 0-2 loss to Georgia in Group F of Euro 2024 Wednesday.
Portugal had already topped the group and go through to the next phase and hence, the manager, Roberto Martinez replaced as many as eight players of his principal team, not reckoning on an upset by the beginners of the competition.
Early Setback and Frustration
Portugal got off to a poor start and lost the match as soon as 93 seconds was on the clock when Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the ball in the back of the net with a stylish move. The second half saw Georgia punching their history into place with a penalty by Mikautadze Georges.
Cristiano Ronaldo who was featured in his 50th game for the Portugal side in a European Championship or a World Cup was rather off-color, failing to score and coming off the field after an hour. This is the first time Ronaldo has failed to score any goal in the group stage in a competition of international football.
Asides this, Cristiano Ronaldo has not scored any goal outside a penalty in a major tournament (Euro + World Cup) for 10 games
🇪🇺
2024 🇬🇪 ❌
2024 🇹🇷 ❌
2024 🇨🇿 ❌
🌍
2022 🇲🇦 ❌
2022 🇨🇭 ❌
2022 🇰🇷 ❌
2022 🇺🇾 ❌
2022 🇬🇭 ⚽️ Penalty
🇪🇺
2021 🇧🇪 ❌
2021 🇫🇷 ⚽️ Penalty ⚽️ Penalty
Ronaldo’s Struggles and Controversies
The 39 year old Ronaldo, who was yellow carded for protesting over a penalty call in the first half after managing just one shot on target of his three shots. After the match, Portugal manager Martinez briefly defended Ronaldo: “We weren’t lucky, and then the VAR wasn’t consistent. There is a situation with Cristiano… You can look back and give a penalty.”
Looking Ahead
Martinez acknowledged the disappointing result: We felt that this was the worst result It was a game in which we started very badly The goal which was conceded really showed what the opposite team wished for, Georgia played very well and we must be better prepared for the round of 16. Ronaldo will hope to refine his torrid phase when they face Slovenia in the next round.
