Cristiano Ronaldo rejects Coca-Cola and praises water

By George Ramsay, CNN

Some of the brands sponsoring Euro 2020 — Europe’s ongoing international football tournament — aren’t having an easy time of it.

First it was Cristiano Ronaldo with two bottles of Coca-Cola, then it was Paul Pogba with a Heineken.

Before Portugal’s game against Hungary, Ronaldo moved the two drinks on display out of view as he sat down to take questions from the media. He then picked up a bottle of water — saying, “Water!” — seemingly encouraging people to drink that instead.

Then after France’s 1-0 victory against Germany Tuesday, Pogba, who was named man of the match, removed a bottle of non-alcoholic Heineken beer that was placed in front of him.

Pogba said on Twitter in 2017 that he does not drink alcohol. Both Heineken and Coca-Cola are official sponsors of Euro 2020.

Coca-Cola said it would not be commenting on Ronaldo’s removal of the bottles when contacted by CNN and pointed towards a statement from UEFA, European football’s governing body.

“Coca-Cola offers a range of drinks to suit different tastes and needs, which are available to players throughout the tournament,” said UEFA’s statement.

“This includes waters, isotonic sports drinks and juices, coffee and tea, as well as Coca-Cola. Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences and can choose their preferred beverage.”

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In a statement to CNN, Heineken said: “We fully respect everyone’s decision when it comes to their beverage of choice.”

UEFA did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Ronaldo, who scored two goals in Portugal’s 3-0 victory against Hungary to become the greatest goal scorer in European Championship finals history, caught the eye of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady after snubbing the bottles of Coca-Cola.

“It’s almost like the veterans know what they’re doing,” Brady, who has advocated drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces of water a day, wrote on Twitter.

Pogba’s agent declined to comment when contacted by CNN. Representatives for Ronaldo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN’s John Sinnott and Aleks Klosok contributed to reporting.