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14th Jun 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo comes in for free-kick flak after Portugal’s slow Euro 2016 start

Wall... wall

Darragh Murphy

Cristiano Ronaldo’s utterly stunning free kick against Portsmouth rippled the back of David James’ net eight years ago.

The goal cemented Ronaldo’s status as the owner of one of deadliest free kicks in Europe and his knuckleball technique was praised the world over.

Manchester United v Portsmouth

But now, in 2016, the Portugal and Real Madrid star struggles to beat the wall and, if he does, the strike usually clears the crossbar by ten yards.

Ronaldo was presented with two late free kicks during Portugal’s Group F opener against Iceland on Tuesday.

He had the victory, and the record of becoming the first player to score in four different European Championships, in his sights.

Boom! Hit the hand of a man in the Icelandic wall. Referee moves the free kick forward ten yards. Second chance for Ronnie.

Boom! Wall again.

As the final whistle blew, Ronaldo’s ignominy was doubled by the fact that, while turning to berate the referee, the ball slowly descended and hit him square on his well-oiled head.

And the internet believed that Ronaldo had finally been outed as a charlatan – a man relying on a few decent free kicks early in his career – who now can’t master his own knack.

https://twitter.com/_ANTONIOM92/status/742822291499847685

https://twitter.com/FutbolsaCountry/status/742822268808617988

https://twitter.com/JamesSeale/status/742822256825503744