Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend has expressed her support for the footballer after he broke down in tears in Germany last night.

The Portuguese star, 38, was visibly distraught when Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak saved his penalty in the first half of extra time in Frankfurt. Despite this, three penalty shootout saves from Diogo Costa secured Portugal's victory.

Unable to contain his emotions, Ronaldo was seen crying on the pitch after missing his shot. However, his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, 30, who shares two children with the footballer, has defended the former Manchester United star with a heartfelt post on social media.

Taking to Instagram, the former Gucci employee shared two photos of Ronaldo on the pitch. One was accompanied by a large heart and the other by a star, celebrating Portugal's victory after the penalty shootout in which Ronaldo scored.

Following the dramatic night, Ronaldo confirmed Portuguese fans' worst fears by telling the country's newspaper, O Jogo, after the match: “It is, without doubt, my last European Championship."

The Madeira-born sports star is revered in Portugal, and Georgina has also been honoured by the country's adoring fans during the Euros, which have already seen several surprising results.

When Portugal lost 2-0 to underdogs Georgia, who were qualifying for the tournament for the first time, all eyes were on the influencer, who has amassed a significant fan base. The model shared a photo on her Instagram story, showing a fan holding up a sign that read: "Georgina > Georgia". She then shared another of two fans with "Georgina" printed on the back of their Portugal tops.

The Argentine-Spanish influencer and former Manchester United legend have been in a relationship since 2016, when they met at the Gucci store where she worked. Georgina shared the details of their romance in her Netflix reality series, "I Am Georgina," which was released in 2022.

In the show, she reveals that Ronaldo would pick her up from work in luxury cars when they first started dating. She said: "Many times he'd come after work. I remember once, he came in a Bugatti. My coworkers went crazy. They would arrive by bus, and I would leave in a Bugatti. People couldn't believe it."

In the first episode of "I Am Georgina," Ronaldo admitted: "I didn't think at the beginning that [the relationship] would be this strong, that I would fall in love with her." He added: "I didn't expect it, honestly. But after a while, I felt that she was the woman of my life."

Despite their eight-year relationship, the couple aren't married. However, Ronaldo hasn't ruled it out, telling Piers Morgan in an interview in 2022: “[Marriage is] something that’s not in my plans now, but in the future, I do want to."