{"id":36500,"date":"2026-06-17T18:21:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/world-cup-live-cristiano-ronaldo-responds-to-lionel-messi-after-being-gunned-down-by-fan-before-match\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:21:26","slug":"world-cup-live-cristiano-ronaldo-responds-to-lionel-messi-after-being-gunned-down-by-fan-before-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/world-cup-live-cristiano-ronaldo-responds-to-lionel-messi-after-being-gunned-down-by-fan-before-match\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Live: Cristiano Ronaldo responds to Lionel Messi after being &#8216;gunned down&#8217; by fan before match"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div tabindex=\"0\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Portugal will play their first World Cup match in the United States today, taking on the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 1pm ET (6pm BST), and fans are looking forward to the match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Team coach Roberto Martinez praised Cristiano Ronaldo as a &#8220;killer&#8221; who can lead Portugal&#8217;s onslaught towards the World Cup. Ronaldo will be competing in the tournament for a record-equalling sixth time in his illustrious career. Even at 41 years old, some wonder if his influence on the team is still so important and influential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But Mart\u00ednez rejects suggestions that Ronaldo can no longer produce at the highest level, believing one of the game&#8217;s icons remains as ruthless and deadly as ever. Portugal will open the World Cup against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Houston.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He&#8217;s a role model. He&#8217;s an iconic player in world football for young athletes and children, both men and women, who are starting to feel the love of football on the streets. It may be his sixth World Cup, but it feels like his first in terms of his intensity and emotion,&#8221; Martinez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He&#8217;s ready to lead the group and is very essential. He&#8217;s a striker, he&#8217;s a killer. He&#8217;s a player with great numbers. He&#8217;s ready.&#8221; Martinez, however, declined to say whether he would continue as Portugal&#8217;s coach after the World Cup. Martinez&#8217;s contract expires next month and speculation is mounting that he may resign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mart\u00ednez added: &#8220;This is not news. We talked a lot about this in Portugal. It may be news here, but back in Portugal it is not. The focus is on the preparation for the World Cup. I am dealing with this very naturally. My contract is ending. This is not news, this is just a fact.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37290205\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37290205\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.31\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ronaldo wants to complete his collection of major honors with Portugal\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37290205.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2280328226.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37290205.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-2280328226.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37290205.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-2280328226.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37290205.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2280328226.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Ronaldo is hoping to complete his collection of major honours with Portugal\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Ronaldo wants to complete his collection of major honors with Portugal<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/world-cup-2026-live-england-37295478\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Portugal will play their first World Cup match in the United States today, taking on the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 1pm ET (6pm BST), and fans are looking forward to the match. Team coach Roberto Martinez praised Cristiano Ronaldo as a &#8220;killer&#8221; who can lead Portugal&#8217;s onslaught towards the World Cup. Ronaldo will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>World Cup Live: Cristiano Ronaldo responds to Lionel Messi after being &#039;gunned down&#039; by fan before match - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/world-cup-live-cristiano-ronaldo-responds-to-lionel-messi-after-being-gunned-down-by-fan-before-match\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Cup Live: Cristiano Ronaldo responds to Lionel Messi after being &#039;gunned down&#039; by fan before match - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Portugal will play their first World Cup match in the United States today, taking on the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 1pm ET (6pm BST), and fans are looking forward to the match. 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