Cristiano Ronaldo has had a mixed Euro 2016 so far.
Fresh off of winning the Champions League with Real Madrid, and afforded an extra three week break ahead of the tournament, it was expected that Ronaldo would be one of the stars of the Euro 2016, leading Portugal to a deep tournament run where he would surely win the Golden Boot after crushing a rather straightforward Group F.
Instead, Ronaldo has cut a frustrated figure as Portugal could only scrape three draws to a third place finish in the group behind Hungary and Iceland.
His post-match comments have been petty, his free kicks wayward, and despite two goals in Portugal’s 3-3 draw with Hungary, his general forward play has stuttered as the forward struggles to lead his Portugal side to a long awaited European Championship.
https://twitter.com/Ankaman616/status/745667228998172672
That he threw a journalist’s microphone (albeit one who worked for a company he has a noted dislike of) into a lake when they tried to question him about his tournament only underlined things – Ronaldo’s not enjoying his Euro 2016 so far.
Ronaldo’s not really helped himself in these Euros, has he? Throwing a reporters microphone into a lake. pic.twitter.com/cCMwaIhVPJ
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) June 22, 2016
Ronaldo’s latest stunt is to refuse to speak to football journalists. In a press conference that followed Portugal’s 3-3 draw with Hungary, football journalists were told that Ronaldo would not be answering any questions. Instead, he would share his thoughts about the game and then leave.
Ronaldo coming into post-match press conference. UEFA official says he will ask the questions. He's refusing to let media ask ourselves
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) June 22, 2016
People are not pleased by this.
First time in #Euro2016 media are not allowed to ask questions in a press conference. Who else but Ronaldo? Contemptuous move.
— Kris Voakes (@krisvoakes) June 22, 2016
Sh*tstorm going down in press conference. 15 minutes ago Uefa guy said no questions to MoM Ronaldo. Led to uproar. Nothing's happened since.
— Tom Kundert (@PortuGoal1) June 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/iainmacintosh/status/745685648871464960
Maybe Ronaldo has had enough of people slating him in the press. Maybe he wants to focus ahead of Portugal’s last-16 game against Croatia on Saturday 25 June, no one knows right now.
All we do know, is one way or another, Ronaldo will be one of the most talked about footballers at Euro 2016.
