The graphic divided opinion online
John Terry has criticised the BBC for its ‘disgraceful’ caption making fun at Cristiano Ronaldo for missing his penalty against Slovenia.
Terry posted an image of the controversial BBC caption that read ‘Misstiano Penaldo’ to his Instagram account with the words “BBC this is a disgrace” alongside it.
Despite their days as bitter rivals with Ronaldo at Manchester United and John Terry at Chelsea the former Chelsea captain knows all too well the heartbreak of missing a crucial penalty.
In fact it was against Ronaldo that Terry missed one of the biggest penalties in Chelsea history, as he missed his penalty in the 2008 Champions League final shoutout against United, after he slipped and hit the post.
Ronaldo also missed his penalty that night in Moscow, but was ultimately spared the agony by some Edwin Van de Sar heroics.
In the aftermath of the BBC caption going viral, plenty of fans have been having their say.
Fans have said someone is “getting sacked” at the BBC for a funny graphic shown on screen after Cristiano Ronaldo missed his extra time penalty against Slovenia.
Portugal were taken to extra time by a determined Slovenia side who held the Euro 2016 winners to 0-0 after 90 minutes. On the stroke of half time of extra time though, Portugal were awarded a penalty.
Ronaldo, who had missed several chances throughout the game, stepped up to take the spot kick from 12 yards but was denied by Jan Oblak in goal.
The whistle was then immediately blown for a quick break but Ronaldo couldn’t hold back the tears and broke down in front of his teammates.
However, when the BBC’s coverage cut back to the studio, it seemed like someone behind the scenes had little sympathy for the Portugal striker.
During the analysis of the penalty, a graphic popped up in the bottom left of the screen which read ‘Misstiano Penaldo.’
The pun split opinion online, with some finding it pretty funny whilst others thought it was disrespectful to Ronaldo.
One person wrote: “Did anyone actually spot “Misstiano Penaldo” on the BBC during the #Euro2024 game? Did this really happen?! An intern is either getting promoted or handed their P45 tomorrow…”
Another said: “Ronaldo missed his 1st penalty & he was in tears. A broken man. Halfway through the 1st half of extra time. Mental health shot to pieces, briefly. And the BBC put this immediately after? Utter cretins. But would BBC Sport do the same for England?”
A third said: “Think someone may be getting sacked at BBC Sport.”
Someone else labelled it “genuinely disgusting”, whilst another said it was “ridiculous and embarrassing.”
Even Chelsea legend John Terry waded in, slamming the graphic as “a disgrace” on his Instagram stories.
Others pointed out that the graphic was just a joke though, and that the BBC always make puns like this during episodes of Match of the Day.
One person said: “To all the Ronaldo fans saying the BBC is “disrespecting him” and they “don’t do it for Anyone else” Match of the day do it all the time, here are some examples.”
A second wrote: “Love that even the BBC took the p**s.”
Meanwhile, someone else said it was a “great caption” whilst another commented: “Someone at the BBC is having a right laugh at Ronaldo like hahahaha misstiano penaldo.”
In the end, Ronaldo’s penalty miss didn’t matter. In the penalty shootout the 39-year-old scored his side’s first penalty, whilst Diogo Costa saved all three of Slovenia’s penalties, meaning Portugal progressed to the last eight.
They will now take on France in the quarter finals on Friday.
