‘Hope Ronaldo wasn’t watching’: Granit Xhaka glugs on Coke before Swiss dump France out of Euros

One man’s poison is another man’s medicine, as the saying goes. That’s certainly true for Cristiano Ronaldo and Swiss star Granit Xhaka and their attitudes to Coca-Cola.

Ronaldo famously sent the American drinks giant’s share price tumbling by getting rid of the black stuff and promoting the virtues of drinking water earlier at Euro 2020.

But Swiss midfielder Xhaka had no such qualms when he was pictured happily swigging on a bottle of Coke before his team’s momentous penalty shootout victory against world champions France on Monday night.

Xhaka put in a man-of-the-match shift for the Swiss as they came back from 3-1 down to score twice inside the last 10 minutes before goalkeeper Yann Sommer saved the decisive spot kick from Kylian Mbappe in the shootout.

Before the shootout drama, Swiss skipper Xhaka was seen being handed a Coke before giving his team a rousing speech with the bottle still in hand.

It should perhaps be noted that Xhaka was not among his team's five penalty takers, but the clip – and comparisons with Ronaldo – inevitably went viral, with many pondering if CR7 was watching on or could even learn a thing or two from the Arsenal midfielder. 

Ronaldo’s Portugal team exited the tournament at the last 16 with their defeat to Belgium. Meanwhile the Swiss – and Xhaka – are heading to a quarter-final against Spain in St. Petersburg on Friday.

Make of that what you will.