It was definitely not Ronaldo's day, given that he had not even managed to take one of the final penalties that cost his country the match – due to go last in the line-up, he would have been next after Spain's Cesc Fàbregas, but the match ended with a victory for Spain when the latter scored the goal that put his country in the lead.

And then, Ronaldo had to hang around the airport for several hours before he could get on a later flight.

According to the Real Madrid forward, he was asked by the woman organising the trip if he would mind sitting at the back end of the plane bound for Lisboa from Donetsk, Ukraine.

But when he got back from the café, the plane had already taken off without him, leading him to pronounce his most famous protest and one that rears its head whenever his team loses or a ref makes an unpopular decision: “Não é justo,” and “É uma injustícia.”

It was not until the aircraft was over the Mediterranean that the Portuguese team selector, Paulo Bento, realised his star player was not on board.

Some time after his team-mates had already reunited with the ir friends and families and started commiserating, Ronaldo arrived in his country's capital city to a hero's welcome.