Cristiano Ronaldo Scorns Coca-Cola, Costs Company Billions

Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s most famous athletes and the captain of the Portuguese men’s national team, rebuked Coca-Cola in favor of water as he sat down for a press conference in Budapest before his match with Hungary in the European Championship. His disapproval of the beverage caused the value of the soft drink company to fall by $4 billion dollars.

Upon settling in to take questions, the gregarious 36-year-old megastar was visibly bewildered by the presence of two Coca-Cola bottles at his microphone. When the Juventus forward realized they were intended to serve as his pre-game refreshment, he casually tossed the bottles to the side, grabbed water, and simply said “Agua!” into his microphone.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s actions have a significant impact

The entire moment lasted less than 45 seconds, but was as unambiguous as it was brief. Within moments of the incident, Coca-Cola’s share price went from $56.10 to $55.22, a drop of 1.6%, which is an overall drop in valuation from $242 billion to $238 billion. Coca-Cola is a sponsor of the 2020 European Championship.

A representative for the tournament responded to the situation by saying that “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences.” Everyone “is entitled to their drink preferences.”

Portugal destroyed Hungary 3-0 in their Group F game, Ronaldo scoring twice, and becoming the all time highest goal scorer at the tournament with 11 points to his name across all his Euros appearances.

Although the price for Coca-Cola has been steep, the message behind the soccer phenom’s action has resonated strongly across the health conscious public, including other star athletes as well. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback–and sports superstar in his own right– Tom Brady heralded Ronaldo’s move, reposting stills from the moment on twitter with a note respect:

It’s almost like the veterans know what they’re doing…. @Cristiano @TB12sports https://t.co/pJ0y1BtCRt

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) June 14, 2021

Ronaldo is famous for his commitment to maintaining his physique.

“I can still compete with the best players and can still maintain the shape I was in when I was 20 years old,” he told Men’s Health magazine in an interview about his fitness routine. He continued:

“In football you have basic points – from training well to eating properly to drinking properly and so on – but recovery for me and from my point of view is the most important thing.”

Ronaldo is reported to be less than 10% body fat, which many health and fitness experts consider to be one of the hardest achievements to reach and maintain with one’s physical fitness. Obviously the demands of his sport necessitate him to stay consistently at a single digit body fat percentage, but the legendary player considers it far more than a job requirement– he promotes his relationship to nutrition in all aspects of his life.