In the opening match of Euro 2024, Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo faced another frustrating moment as his free kick was thwarted by the Czech goalkeeper.
In the 58th minute, Portugal earned a free kick from 24 meters out, positioned almost directly in front of the goal. Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo initially stood over the ball, but Ronaldo soon motioned for his teammates to step aside. The 39-year-old forward took a few steps back, visibly focused and determined, before unleashing a powerful shot. However, Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek made a crucial save, denying Ronaldo’s attempt and leaving the captain once again unable to celebrate a free kick in the tournament.
According to ESPN , it was Ronaldo’s 29th free kick in the European Championship, since his debut in 2004, but he has not scored a goal. In the World Cup, he also took 25 direct free kicks, scoring a goal against Spain in the 2018 group stage. In qualifying and friendlies, CR7 scored 10 free kick goals.
This parameter is surprising, since he was once considered a “free throw expert”, at least in the first 10 years of his career, with his “knuckleball” technique. During his national championship career, he scored 37 goals on 532 free throws, an average of 14 shots per goal. However, in the World Cup and the European Championship his performance is currently 54 shots per goal.
A knee injury in 2014 is considered the cause of Ronaldo’s ability to take free kicks. Before that injury, he scored 23 goals on 296 free throws in the national championships, an efficiency of 13 shots per goal. After the injury, this parameter was reduced to 17 shots per goal. However, this efficiency is still lower than that of contemporary free kick expert Lionel Messi, with 41 goals in 456 shots in the national championships, an efficiency of 11 shots per goal.
Ronaldo’s performance against the Czechs was not that bad, even though he had the most shots in the game (5 times) without scoring. According to the British newspaper Independent , the 39-year-old superstar scored 6 points, only less than Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva (both with 7 points), among Portugal’s top players.
Ronaldo still needs to find a goal to increase his scoring record in the European Championship to 6 periods. In the next match, Portugal will face Turkey at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on June 22. Both teams won their first match, so a draw can also help them have a high chance of moving forward.
