'Jobless' Ronaldo trolled for tear-soaked eyes during Portugal's World Cup 2022 opener against Ghana

Despite a tumultuous week off the pitch, legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo featured in this 5th World Cup tournament for Portugal and also wore the captain's armband as they faced Ghana in their Qatar 2022 Group H opener on Thursday.

Ronaldo, whose contract at Manchester United was recently terminated in the wake of his explosive interview with Piers Morgan, would be aiming to lead his country to World Cup glory - something that has eluded his otherwise illustrious career. What the future holds for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner remains unknown. However, fans would hope that the 37-year-old iconic striker bags a contract with a world-class club soon to enable them to see CR7 in action post the showpiece event.

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During Thursday's clash at Doha's Stadium 974, Ronaldo had the finest opportunity as he bared down on goal, but the Ghanaian goalkeeper smothered the ball due to a sloppy touch. After over 20 minutes, Otto Addo's team was still adhering to their game strategy of staying deep and letting Portugal have the ball. At the halfway point, Portugal thought they had scored, but Ronaldo's finish was overturned because of a foul committed in the buildup. At half-time, the scores remained 0-0.

More than Ronaldo's missed opportunities, the Portuguese talisman's visuals in tears while the country's national anthem was being played ahead of the World Cup 2022 encounters has gone viral. In photographs and videos shared across Twitter, the former Real Madrid and Juventus star's eyes swell with tears as he endures an emotional moment ahead of what could perhaps be his last appearance on football's grandest stage.

While ardent CR7 fans took to Twitter to support Ronaldo and Portugal in winning the clash against Ghana and the World Cup, photographs of the talisman in tears were like fodder for trolls. A meme fest and joke factory exploded on the micro-blogging site instantly.

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"When you are broke and you remember when you were saying keep the change," said one Twitter user, while another one added, "It's the Manchester cheque he forfeited."

A third remarked, "He's crying because all his offers are from Arab league and MLS, no one wants him in Europe," while a fourth user stated,"He’s crying because he found out the next one is in America."

Here's a look at some of the reactions on Twitter: