Cristiano Ronaldo’s stunt in the press conference caught the eye of the world as the footballer removed sponsor Coca-Cola’s bottles from the shot. Paul Pogba has followed in his footsteps by doing the same with Heineken, albeit for markedly different reasons.
“Drink water!” – said Ronaldo in his press conference after removing two bottles of Coca-Cola, which were laid in front of him. Cristiano’s actions garnered worldwide attention, with reports soon claiming that the company lost 4 billion shortly after the stunt – a report which has been disproved by experts since.
Paul Pogba mirrored the Portugal captain in his press conference as he removed a bottle of Heineken paced in front of him.
The Frenchman appeared before the media after his team beat Germany in their opening match of the 2020 UEFA Euro. While Pogba himself did not score, his actions were key to the only goal of the match. Despite being boxed by the opposition defenders, he found Lucas Hernadez rushing into the box with a superb outside-of-the-boot pass. Hernandez’s cross into the box was diverted into his own net by Mats Hummels.
As he sat down for his post-match comments, Pogba saw a bottle of Heineken – an alcoholic beverage – that had been placed in front of him. Following in the footsteps of Ronaldo, he too removed the bottle from the shot, albeit without offering any explanations. The prevailing theory is that his actions were motivated by his religious beliefs. Pogba is a devout Muslim, and the consumption of alcohol is forbidden in Islam.
However, Insider claims that the bottle which Pogba removed was that of a non-alcoholic drink from Heineken, although it featured similar packaging to the alcoholic ones. The report further states that it is unclear whether Pogbe knew about the same.
Surprisingly, Ronaldo and Pogba aren’t the only ones to have taken such pronounced actions in the 2020 Euro. Italy’s hero on Wednesday night, Manuel Locatelli, did the same in his post-match conference when he removed Coca-Cola bottles that had been placed in front of him.
