Cristiano Ronaldo was stretchered from the field in tears after suffering an apparent knee injury in the first half of the European Championship final at the Stade de France.
Ronaldo’s long-held dream of leading Portugal to victory in a major tournament evaporated just eight minutes into the game when he was bowled over by a strong challenge from France’s Dimitri Payet and fell to the turf clutching his left knee.
After receiving treatment, the 31-year-old attempted to carry on several times. At 16 minutes he tumbled to the ground while standing alone at midfield. Again he tried to continue following attention from the trainer, before eventually being forced off because of the injury midway through the opening period.
Host nation France, already a strong favorite heading into the game, dominated possession even more after Ronaldo was substituted by Ricardo Quaresma but neither team was able to break through before the interval.
Ronaldo’s luck has deserted him a big international events all too often, eerily similar to the fate of Lionel Messi, who has also struggled and been unable to win silverware with Argentina.
As a 19-year-old Ronaldo made the final of this event with Portugal, only to suffer a major upset at the hands of Greece. Since then he has gotten no nearer to winning it all.
If Portugal goes on to clinch victory Ronaldo would, of course, still claim a winner’s medal. But, with the severity of the injury still unknown and his Spanish club season with Real Madrid just weeks away, this is not how he would have wanted his campaign to end.
Euro 2016 final: France vs. Portugal
