Cristiano Ronaldo was homophobically mocked during a European Championship match.
The triumph over Hungary left a bitter aftertaste. On Tuesday, the preliminary round of the European Football Championship began in Group F. While the German team failed to score against France, Portugal’s team around superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (36) beat Hungary 3-0 and moved up to the top of the table. Nevertheless, captain Ronaldo had to be comforted after the game, because the record striker was whistled by the spectators.
The Hungarian fans are said to have booed the 36-year-old while warming up and during the game and throwing homophobic comments at him. This is a no-go for Hungary’s goalkeeper (31). After the game, he rushed to the reigning European champions, hugged him and apologized for the bad moments, as the picture reports. After the final whistle, UEFA released a photo of the two with the caption “Respect”.
The scoffs and whistles from the fans seemed to elicit a reaction from Ronaldo himself. In front of the Hungarian fans, of all places, the Juventus Turin striker performed his ecstatic dance of joy to make it 2-0, extending his lead in the all-time scorers’ list of the European Championship. He later expressed his joy in an interview with ZDF and said: “I am very grateful to the team that they enabled me to score two goals and to be the star of the game.”
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