Ronaldo rolled his shorts up his legs to the point where they resembled undies — or at least made him look more AFL player than football star.
Never one to be shy about taking his shirt off and showing the world his bulging six-pack after finding the back of the net, it turns out the goalscoring machine's quads are just as ripped as other parts of his body — and the Twittersphere wasn't going to let his unique look slide.
Ronaldo has pulled off the look when taking free kicks throughout the World Cup in Russia, but whatever benefits he believes showing off his legs give him from set pieces weren't evident in a thrilling match that saw Uruguay advance to the quarter-finals.
On the same day Lionel Messi was sent home in Argentina's 4-3 loss to France, the other "GOAT" at the tournament was also eliminated. It was two weeks ago that Ronaldo scored a hat trick in the same stadium against Spain, stroking his chin after the first goal to imply he was the "greatest of all time".
There was no goal from Ronaldo this time. Everywhere he went, the Portugal great was hounded by two or three Uruguayan defenders.
It was Edinson Cavani who instead took the spotlight. He combined with Luis Suarez to compete a series of precision passes to give Uruguay the early advantage with a header in the seventh minute. And after Portugal equalised on Pepe's header in the 55th minute, it was Cavani again finishing a perfect Uruguay counter in the 62nd with a shot from just inside the penalty area that caught Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio slightly out of position and curled inside the far post.
"The truth is, it was really exciting," Cavani said. "There aren't words to describe this." Cavani now has three goals at the World Cup, but limped off in the 70th minute with an apparent injury and had to be replaced. He was helped to the sideline with his arm around Ronaldo's back.
Uruguay, a two-time champion that reached the semi-finals at the 2010 World Cup, will next face France on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod.
— with AP
