'Worst penalty ever taken!' - Cristiano Ronaldo accused of passing to Kasper Schmeichel after shocking spot-kick miss as Portugal captain spurns golden chance to level Nations League tie vs Denmark

The Portugal captain won his side an early penalty in the second leg of their Nations League quarter-final against Denmark on Sunday, only for his stuttering effort to be comfortably saved by Celtic stopper Schmeichel. Fans on social media then tore into the 40-year-old for spurning a glorious chance to make the tie 1-1 on aggregate after their 1-0 first leg loss.

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@Elmi218 tweeted: "That is the worst penalty ever taken."

@kokkikumar98 wrote on X: "LOL, That's the worst penalty Ronaldo has ever taken. Literally just passed the ball to the keeper."

@blackyy_gee commented: "😂😂😂😂 can't even score pens now swear this mf was overrated asf."

@Abinwaz put: "He dived, JUSTICE," and @saint_tropez8 added: "Leave the football before the football leaves u."

Questions will continue to be asked if Ronaldo is the right man to lead Portugal's attack in the big games such as these. The Al-Nassr forward has shown he can score against teams lower down the rankings but some will argue the former Real Madrid man is more of a hindrance than a net positive for Portugal as he continues to edge towards the final stages of his illustrious career. Time will tell on that front.

It remains to be seen how much longer Ronaldo will remain a fixture in Roberto Martinez's starting XI, but in the build-up to the second leg, Ronaldo insisted he will always put Portugal's collective ambitions ahead of any individual ones. "If I don't score and someone else scores, it's all the same to me," he said. "If Portugal has to win and I don't play, I'll sign my name right now, tell the coach and I won't play. I'll defend these colours until the death."