Rodrygo's message to Cristiano Ronaldo before he plays Kylian Mbappe, France with Portugal

Portugal claimed a hard-fought penalty shootout win over Slovenia in the UEFA Euro 2024 round of 16 to set up a thrilling quarterfinal against France. Even though it wasn’t a great night for Cristiano Ronaldo, the veteran star still felt nothing but support from his fans.

One of his biggest admirers is Brazilian winger Rodrygo, who is looking to emulate the Portuguese superstar at Real Madrid. Shortly after Portugal’s qualification, the former Santos star reacted to Ronaldo’s Instagram post with a simple but big comment: “LEGEND.“

Rodrygo’s message to CR7, which had over 70,000 likes, comes shortly before the Al Nassr star goes head-to-head with Kylian Mbappe with a place in this year’s European Championship semifinals on the line.

At 25, the Frenchman hopes to taste the continental glory for the first time. On the other hand, Ronaldo has already won the Euros, but even at 39, he continues to chase the title as if it was the first time.

Ronaldo was still winless with Portugal at Mbappe’s age, so he knows how hard it is to lift the trophy even if he managed to do so in 2016. On Friday, July 5, Portugal and France clash in Hamburg to keep their Euro aspirations alive.

Cristiano Ronaldo addressed his difficult night with Portugal

Monday was rough for Ronaldo, whose free kick struggles with Portugal continued by going 0-4 against Slovenia. To make things worse, Cristiano broke down in tears as he missed a penalty in extra time.

Fortunately, the Al Nassr veteran star redeemed himself by scoring in the penalty shootout, where goalkeeper Diogo Costa came up gigantic to rescue Portugal by saving three penalties.

“As you saw, I missed the penalty but I wanted to be the first to score the penalty. You have to take responsibility when the team has to. You can’t be afraid. I’ve never been afraid to face things head on. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don’t, but giving up is something you’ll never hear from me. I was sad when I missed the penalty kick but the most important thing is that the team won,” said Ronaldo in his postgame interview.