Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister leaps to his defence following penalty miss

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s sister has leapt to the forward’s defence following his penalty miss against Slovenia.

The forward and his Portugal side were on the verge of an early exit from Euro 2024 and needed a penalty shootout to get past their opponents on Monday evening.

They wouldn’t have done so, however, if Ronaldo had scored from the spot in extra time, with the Portugal captain reduced to tears after seeing his spot kick saved by Jan Oblak.

He did though recover, netting his side’s first penalty of the shootout to send them on their way to an eventually dominant win from 12 yards to set up a quarter-final tie against France.

With Ronaldo coming under criticism from the press in his homeland, his sister, singer Katia Aveiro, took to social media to fight her brother’s corner.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister (right) leapt to his defence after his performance against Slovenia

The first post showed the forward crying, but Katia Aveiro said that she is ‘proud’ of her brother, while the second post read: ‘Lift your head my king.’

Ronaldo broke down after missing a penalty in extra time of his side’s victory on Monday night

Accompanied by a picture of Ronaldo crying at half time of extra time on Monday, she wrote, translated from Portuguese: ‘Step back… win and win… you’ve always been part of it… you’re great… so proud of our team, they’re proud of you. Thank you from Ronaldo, thank you boys.

In another post, accompanied by a photo of Ronaldo being consoled by manager Roberto Martinez, she wrote: ‘Lift your head my king.’

It’s not the first time that Aveiro, 46, has stuck up for her brother online, previously taking a swipe at the forward’s long-term rival, Lionel Messi.

After Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or title last year, and image, accompanied by the caption: ‘Earned, not given,’ showed Ronaldo surrounded by his achievements.

In an apparent dig at the former Barcelona star who has claimed at least two somewhat contentious prizes in recent years, Aveiro liked the post and commented with five clapping emojis – potentially in a nod to her brother’s own tally or just to emphasise the degree to which she supported the message. 

The Portuguese pop singer also waded into modern football’s eternal debate in 2022, labelling the World Cup, which Messi won, as ‘the worst ever’ in a dramatic post on social media.

It is not the first time that Aveiro has stuck up for her brother on social media, also targeting Lionel Messi in the past

There have been calls for Ronaldo to be dropped from the Portugal team ahead of their quarter-final tie against France

There have been calls for Ronaldo to be dropped from the team, with the 39-year-old yet to score in the tournament despite leading the line for one of the favourites.

Flanked by Rafael Leao and Bernardo Silva and with Bruno Fernandes in support, many have argued that he should be performing better and have questioned whether his 18-month stint in the Saudi Pro League has had an impact.

Portuguese newspaper Publico called for their captain to be relegated to the bench for the quarter-final tie against France, giving him a four out of 10 rating for his performance versus Slovenia.