Cristiano Ronaldo comes in for free-kick flak after Portugal’s slow Euro 2016 start

Cristiano Ronaldo's utterly stunning free kick against Portsmouth rippled the back of David James' net eight years ago.

The goal cemented Ronaldo's status as the owner of one of deadliest free kicks in Europe and his knuckleball technique was praised the world over. But now, in 2016, the Portugal and Real Madrid star struggles to beat the wall and, if he does, the strike usually clears the crossbar by ten yards. Ronaldo was presented with two late free kicks during Portugal's Group F opener against Iceland on Tuesday. He had the victory, and the record of becoming the first player to score in four different European Championships, in his sights. Boom! Hit the hand of a man in the Icelandic wall. Referee moves the free kick forward ten yards. Second chance for Ronnie. Boom! Wall again. As the final whistle blew, Ronaldo's ignominy was doubled by the fact that, while turning to berate the referee, the ball slowly descended and hit him square on his well-oiled head. https://twitter.com/theskyhighguy14/status/742822161296064517 And the internet believed that Ronaldo had finally been outed as a charlatan - a man relying on a few decent free kicks early in his career - who now can't master his own knack. https://twitter.com/_ANTONIOM92/status/742822291499847685 https://twitter.com/markanders/status/742822289612410883 https://twitter.com/FutbolsaCountry/status/742822268808617988 https://twitter.com/JamesSeale/status/742822256825503744 https://twitter.com/Jordy_Rutter/status/742822254455754752 https://twitter.com/stevecurry1970/status/742822221262016512 https://twitter.com/markEguyatt/status/742822339046412289 https://twitter.com/xDODGEMATEx/status/742822348907241472 https://twitter.com/Hikaygq/status/742822351704870912 https://twitter.com/MaveMUFC/status/742822360869408776 https://twitter.com/_CrissoN/status/742822382436519936