One of the biggest talking points of the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020 has been Cristiano Ronaldo’s action of keeping Coca-Cola bottles aside during a news conference and encourage people to drink water instead. Ronaldo’s actions have inspired other footballers liker Paul Pogba and Manuel Locatelli to do the same.


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One of the fittest athletes in the world, Portugal striker Ronaldo’s simple gesture to promote a healthy habit ended up costing Coca-Cola big time. The soft drinks giants saw a dip in their shares as a staggering $4 billion was wiped off the brand’s net value after Ronaldo’s snub.


The video of the incident went viral on social media with fans transforming Ronaldo’s visuals into hilarious memes. One of the memes going viral in India is the ‘Jal lijiye’ meme inspired by a scene from the Bollywood movie ‘Vivah’ starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao.


The actress has reacted to the viral meme featuring her and Ronaldo and came up with a pun. “Wat’er Are U Saying,” she wrote reacting to the meme shared by a Twitter user.



After Ronaldo, Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli repeated the Portugal legend's gesture in the post-match press conference after producing a Man-of-the-Match performance in the side’s clash against Switzerland on Wednesday. Locatelli, who scored two goals in the game, removed the Coca-Cola bottlers kept on the table and put water bottles in front to repeat Ronaldo’s gesture.


UEFA have now reminded the footballers about their sponsor commitments during the tournament. Football’s European governing body have warned that they might punish footballers if they continue to remove sponsor items during press conferences.


“UEFA has reminded participating teams that partnerships are integral to the delivery of the tournament and to ensuring the development of football across Europe, including for youth and women,” the tournament organisers said on Thursday.