This archive report was first published on 12 July 2021.
On July 11, 2021, Italy won the European Championship title, defeating England 3-2 in a penalty shootout after extra time. Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci was over the moon with his team's victory and celebrated by taking big swigs of Coca-Cola and Heineken during a news conference.
Bonucci, who scored the equaliser in the final, won the European soccer governing body UEFA's star of the match award and arrived at the news conference with his trophy in one hand and the two beverages in the other. He took drinks of one then the other as he answered questions from the media.
Earlier in the tournament, UEFA responded to Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo's removal of a Coca-Cola bottle at a news conference by telling teams they had contractual obligations towards tournament sponsors. Ronaldo had moved the bottles aside as he sat down to speak to the media before Portugal's Group F opener against Hungary.
After the snub, stock in the drinks company dipped 1.6%, losing about $4 billion in value. A day later, France midfielder Paul Pogba, who is a Muslim, removed a bottle of Heineken beer from in front of him after France's victory over Germany.
Bonucci hailed Italy's team spirit that led to their first European Championship title since 1968. "We were special in that we believed right from day one when we all joined up," Bonucci said. "There was a different feeling in the air and it's come to pass, and it's incredible how, day after day, we never got tired of being together."
