Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has fallen to a new low on the continental stage after his nation suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Georgia in Group F of Euro 2024 on Wednesday.
A Selecao had already qualified for the last 16 as group winners and Roberto Martinez subsequently made eight changes to his starting lineup, but few would have envisaged tournament debutants Georgia pulling off an upset.
Portugal fell behind after just 93 seconds when Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia drilled a clinical finish into the bottom corner, before Georges Mikautadze sealed the historic victory for Georgia with a second-half penalty.
It proved to be another frustrating night for Ronaldo, who was unable to mark his 50th appearance at either a European Championship or World Cup with a goal.
The 39-year-old failed to make the desired impact in the final third - striking only one of his three shots on target - and was substituted just after the hour mark, while he was also unable to score in Portugal's first two group-stage games against Czech Republic and Turkey.
© Reuters
Ronaldo suffers first group-stage blank
As a result, Ronaldo has now failed to score in the group stage of a major international tournament for the first time in his career.
Ronaldo is competing at his 11th major international tournament this summer and scored at least one goal in each of his previous 10 appearances at the Euros and World Cup dating back to 2006.
The Al-Nassr striker, who scored 44 goals for the Saudi Arabian side last season, was booked in the first half against Georgia for venting his frustration at the referee after appealing for a penalty.
Portugal manager Martinez stated after the match that captain Ronaldo was right to be irritated by the decision.
"We weren't lucky and then the VAR wasn't consistent, because there's a situation with Cristiano," Martinez told reporters. "We're talking about what VAR can do. You can look back and give a penalty. The situation in the 27th minute is even clearer, more of a penalty than the one we suffered."
© Reuters
"It was the worst result. It was a game in which we started badly," Martinez added. "Conceding the goal really highlighted what the opponent wanted to do. We always had a good attitude, looking at the goal and trying to score the goal.
"Today Georgia had the key moments, the second goal, all the goalkeeper's energy and performance. We need to congratulate them. And now it's time to look to the round of 16 and have the team better prepared.
"We don't want to lose, but we have all the players. We continued to try to control the game, but when the opponent has an advantage to defend it's different. They have belief and strength. We started and it was another game, it wasn't a game that we needed to win."
Ronaldo will hope to have more joy in front of goal when Portugal face Slovenia at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt in the last 16 next Monday evening.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic
