Cristiano Ronaldo’s Twins IG Post Becomes Most Liked Post by an Athlete

Star soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record for most-liked Instagram post by a professional athlete on Friday after announcing on the social media platform that his wife was pregnant with twins.

The record had previously been held by fellow footballer and rival Lionel Messi, who had 22 million likes on a photo of him, his wife, and his three sons. Ronaldos post, which has 26 million likes, shows him in bed with his partner Georgina Rodriguez holding a sonogram of the two babies.

The 36-year-old Manchester United forward already has four children, three of which are with Rodriguez. Rodriguez also gave birth to twins in 2017. Rodriguez met the athlete when he was shopping at a Gucci store in Madrid, Spain, where she was working as a shop assistant.

“His height, his body, his beauty caught my attention. I was trembling in front of him, but a spark ignited,” she said.

“I am very shy and perhaps this stirred me more in front of a person who, with one glance, had touched me deeply. Then after, the way Cristiano treats me, cares for me and loves me did the rest.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s pregnancy announcement tops of an eventful year for the star

The post and pregnancy top off a year of extremes for Ronaldo, who courted controversy earlier this summer when he rebuked Coca-Cola, the sponsor of the men’s European Champonship, in favor of water.

Ronaldo is one of the world’s most famous athletes and the captain of the Portuguese men’s national team, 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.

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.