BBC defend their 'Misstiano Penaldo' caption and claim the coverage is balanced

The BBC have responded to criticism and complaints received after captioning a missed Cristiano Ronaldo penalty in the Euro 2024 last-16 clash with Slovenia 'Misstiano Penaldo'.

BBC Sport caused outrage with the incident and fans flooded their Instagram page with hundreds of memes and snarling comments, with John Terry labelling the broadcaster a 'disgrace'.

They were eating their words minutes later when Ronaldo converted his attempt in the penalty-shootout as Portugal progressed to the quarter-finals where they exited the tournament against France.

BBC have now addressed the issue, claiming it was intended 'as a play on words' and insist their coverage of the match was favourable towards Ronaldo.

The statement said: 'The caption was simply intended as a play on words, which we have done many times before on Match Of The Day analysis graphics. There was no offence intended toward Cristiano Ronaldo.

'In fact, throughout the programme we spoke favourably about Ronaldo on a number of occasions, including:

'1. In the pre-match build-up when Jose Fonte highlighted Ronaldo’s dedication to training, saying it’s why 'he’s one of the best-ever'.

'2. At half-time Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer did a long analysis run on Ronaldo’s movement, praising it as “absolutely fantastic”.

'3. After the penalty shoot-out, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both referenced Ronaldo’s courage and self-belief to step forward and take a penalty.

'At no point were the pundits overly critical of Ronaldo and in the context of the programme overall, the tone was consistently respectful towards him.

'However, we appreciate some viewers were unhappy with the graphic and the feedback has been passed on to the production team to help inform their work going forward.'

Ronaldo was handed the opportunity to score the winning goal against Slovenia during extra-time but was denied by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Moments after the miss, the Portugal captain broke down in tears, prompting teammates to comfort him.

However, the BBC sparked fury among fans and pundits after it mockingly captioned a replay of the penalty miss 'Misstiano Penaldo'.

Terry shared the caption to Instagram and slammed it as a 'disgrace', while viewers blasted the corporation for being 'unprofessional'.

While the attempt at wit appears to be a new move for the BBC, fans were left unimpressed with what they branded the 'TikTokzation of football punditry'.

Ronaldo - whose watching mother was also in tears after the miss - redeemed himself by scoring a penalty in the shootout, where Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa made three saves to send his team to the quarter finals of the Euros.

The Real Madrid legend then scored his penalty in the quarter-final shootout against France but Portugal slumped to defeat as Joao Felix missed his spotkick.