Mahela Jayawardene’s Cheeky Jibe at Cristiano Ronaldo Divides the Internet

Cristiano Ronaldo’s simple act of smoothly moving aside two soft drink bottles of sponsor Coca-Cola during in the pre-match conference at the Euro 2020 took the internet by storm. The talismanic striker moved the bottles out of frame and held up a water bottle instead, gesturing to people to drink more water instead of cola. This move did have a domino effect, as several players, including France’s Paul Pogba and Italy’s Manuel Locatelli repeated similar acts of advocating against sugary/unhealthy beverages, which even led to FIFA issuing a warning to national federations.

This episode reportedly shaved billions, as the beverage giants’ stocks plummeted. However, netizens who were in awe of the Portuguese superstar’s gesture, took to social media to call out several prominent celebrities who have promoted such beverages or carbonated drinks. They also compared cricketers and one user took a jibe at former Sri Lankan captains Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara for promoting such beverages.

One user tagged both former cricketers in his Tweet, in which he wrote that he’s proud of “Cristiano” and took a jibe at Jayawardene and Sangakkara for “promoting” such cola products.

While Sangakkara didn’t respond to the post, it didn’t go down well with Jayawardena and he responded to the post with a picture where the Portuguese skipper is seen promoting Coca-Cola. In a subtle dig at Ronaldo and the fan, the former Sri Lankan skipper wrote, “Oops!!! You did it again,” and further added that the football star “should do the skydive without the parachute next time."

Jayawardene’s sarcastic reaction impressed several users who complimented the veteran cricketers for responding with panache. However, another Ronaldo fan pointed out that the advertisement was done 16 years ago, and people change over the years. The former cricketer had another exciting response to the same. He wrote that he “was 25” then and he did the promotion “25 years ago.”

The thread soon went viral and in no time the microblogging site lit up with several reactions. While many users praised his cheeky comment, others criticised him for ‘defending’ the promotion of the beverage brand. Here’s how they responded:

“People mature with age,” wrote one user and further added that Ronaldo is also a “good example for that.”

Another user asked what’s actually wrong with being sponsored by “Coca Cola” or for that matter any brand.

A third had a cheeky response, as he compared the dateline of Ronaldo’s cola advertisement to his age.

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