Ronaldo comforts disconsolate Pepe as Portugal's veterans make cruel exit at Euro 2024
Hamburg (AP/PTI): This time, they weren't Cristiano Ronaldo's tears.
Instead, the Portugal superstar's role was to console a weeping teammate after a painful exit from their last European Championship — and, who knows, potentially their final major international tournament.
Pepe, a defender still excelling for his country at the remarkable age of 41, was dejected as he sobbed on the shoulder of Ronaldo in a embrace lasting about 15 seconds following Portugal's penalty-shootout loss to France in the quarterfinals in Hamburg on Friday.
Two Portugal stalwarts. A combined age of 80. It was quite the sight.
“Soccer is very cruel," Pepe said.
Ronaldo cried himself at Euro 2024 — after having a penalty saved during extra time of the last-16 match against Slovenia just four days ago. He cried at the 2022 World Cup after Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Maybe he was out of tears, because this time he simply looked into the sky, appearing to be disappointed and rueful.
Ronaldo will be 41 when the next major tournament rolls around — the 2026 World Cup, jointly held by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Can he stick around until then?
Well, he is still captain of his country — the holder of a men's record 130 international goals and 212 international appearances.
He is still churning out full games for his country. The only time he didn't complete a match at Euro 2024 was in the group stage against Georgia, when he came off in the 66th minute with Portugal assured of advancing. He played the entire 120 minutes against Slovenia and France.
And he still clearly commands the respect of his teammates and coach, Roberto Martinez.
Yet Ronaldo, who now plays his club soccer out of the global spotlight in Saudi Arabia, has now gone eight games without a goal in major tournaments. That takes in all five of Portugal's matches at Euro 2024 and its final three at the World Cup in Qatar.
He was almost completely shackled by France center backs William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, with Ronaldo's only clear chance coming in extra time when he finally escaped his marker but couldn't hook a shot on target from a cross from the right.
Ronaldo converted his penalty in the shootout but it wasn't enough, And then he had to take on the role of comforter for Pepe.
“I won't say it publicly," Pepe told TV station Canal 11, when asked what Ronaldo said to him. "But we feel it a lot. Contrary to what many people think, we feel it a lot.
"We feel the frustration of not winning a game, of being eliminated in such a big competition as the European Championship, knowing that we had a lot of quality to go through. That's the pain we feel.”
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez echoed those thoughts, saying "the tears are tears of frustration.”
“When you play against better opposition, there are no tears but this is hard to accept,” he said.
Martinez added that Ronaldo had yet to make a call about his international future, saying things were “too raw” and that Portugal was “suffering a defeat as a team — there are no individual decisions at this point.”
Pepe was slightly more open, even if he still left things unclear about his future.
"I will have the opportunity to speak in the future," he said. “I don't want to speak about it (now) because tomorrow people might be speaking about my future instead of talking about this process."
Ronaldo finishes his European Championship career on a record 14 goals. That's five more than his nearest rival, Michel Platini, who scored all of his at one tournament — Euro 1984 — including two hat tricks.
Ronaldo is the only player to go to six editions of the European Championship. He had scored at each one before arriving in Germany.
Euro 2024, however, proved a tournament too far.
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Man held for fake campaign against KAS officer; police cite personal hostility
Bengaluru (PTI): In a key development in a cyber defamation case involving social activist Snehamayi Krishna, police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly circulating fake documents and a fabricated audio clip targeting senior KAS officer and former MUDA Commissioner D B Natesh.
Police said the accused, Vinod, acted out of hostility arising from certain transactions between him and the complainant.
According to a press release issued by the police department, the case was registered on February 18 at the Bengaluru City Cyber Crime Police Station based on a complaint filed by Natesh, former Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner.
During the investigation, police found that due to hostility arising from certain transactions between Vinod and the complainant, he contacted Krishna and provided false information, allegedly with the intention of taking revenge for personal gain.
In his complaint, Natesh alleged that Krishna, a resident of Mysuru, had been targeting and harassing him by creating fake documents, morphed photographs and a fabricated audio clip, and uploading them on social media through his Facebook account with the intention of defaming him.
Police said the investigation was taken up accordingly.
It was further revealed that Krishna, without verifying the authenticity of the information received, allegedly circulated it on social media with malicious intent to defame and damage the complainant’s reputation, the release said.
In this connection, a notice was issued to N Vinod, a resident of Bogadi in Mysuru, directing him to appear before the police.
Upon inquiry, and in view of the supporting evidence found against him, he was arrested and will be produced before the competent court, police said.
A notice has also been issued to Krishna to appear for questioning regarding his role in the offence. Further investigation is in progress.
Additionally, another case has been registered against Krishna at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station for allegedly spreading false information and carrying out defamatory propaganda. The matter is under investigation.
During the investigation so far, materials shared by Krishna on Facebook have been collected.
On verifying mobile numbers, vehicle registration details and other evidence, police found that the information circulated was false.
The investigation is continuing, they added.
On Thursday, Krishna had alleged corruption against Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and senior KAS officer D B Natesh, a former MUDA Commissioner.
The government rejected the allegations, stating that due process had been followed and a prior sanction for investigation had already been granted.
Krishna also lodged complaints with the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department, alleging the exchange of a large amount of cash in Mysuru. He also shared a photograph of a vehicle allegedly used in the transaction.
On Saturday, Krishna apologised to the chief secretary.
“I was brought here yesterday for questioning following a complaint by Natesh that I filed a false complaint, created fake documents, fabricated an audio clip, and posted them on my Facebook page. There was also a complaint against me for making baseless allegations against Shalini Rajneesh,” Krishna told reporters.
The activist said he had received the information through WhatsApp. He added that the person who shared it has also been questioned by the police.
Krishna, however, claimed that his allegations against Natesh are correct. “The information shared with me regarding Shalini Rajneesh is false. I have committed a mistake. I request her to pardon me,” he said.
He added that the investigation will continue.
Krishna was the complainant in the MUDA land allotment case, based on which a case was registered against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M, her brother Mallikarjuna Swamy and others.
In this case, it was alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in an upscale area of Mysuru, with a higher property value than the land acquired by MUDA.
MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 scheme in exchange for 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout. Under this scheme, MUDA allots 50 per cent of developed land to landowners in exchange for undeveloped land acquired for residential layouts.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police, which registered the case against Siddaramaiah, his wife and his brother-in-law, later gave them a clean chit by filing a closure report, which was accepted by the Special Court for trial of public representatives.
