Cristiano Ronaldo left frustrated again as missed penalty blows chance to win against brave Austrians

CRISTIANO RONALDO shrugged off his horror penalty miss by posing for a fan’s selfie.

But Ron had nothing to smile about after his major tournament curse took another turn for the worse last night.

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Towards the end of another frustrating game for Portugal, it looked like his luck was finally going to change.

Austria defender Martin Hinteregger rugby-tackled Ron to the deck with 11 minutes left   and ref Nicola Rizzoli pointed to the spot.

Ron picked up the ball and kissed it. His moment had finally come at Euro 2016.

He sent Robert Almer the wrong way with his spot-kick but the ball bounced back off the post. Incredible.

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Then, with five minutes of normal time left, CR7 saw a brilliant header ruled out for offside.

At full-time a supporter ran on to the pitch — chased by stewards — and made a beeline for Ronaldo.

Incredibly, given the embarrassing 90 minutes he just had, the Real Madrid superstar agreed to have his picture taken and even waved away stewards before producing a smile for the unscheduled photo op.

The fan was escorted away to probably face questions from police.

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But Ronaldo did not come up with answers for his major tournament woes. He is still stuck on nine goals in SEVEN major tournaments.

And all this after boasting a few weeks ago about his amazing record.

Following his Champions League final win with Real Madrid, Ron bragged: “I’ve scored 51 goals this season.”

He wanted to remind the watching world he had netted a half-century of goals at Real for six consecutive seasons.

That is some record — and he had every reason to blow his own trumpet. But you would not have thought it was the same player at the Parc des Princes.

When he poked a first-half shot an inch wide from close range, it might as well have been a mile off target.

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And when Almer produced a world-class stop in the second half to deny the Portuguese icon, you just sensed it was not going to be his night.

Ronaldo thumped a shot that had goal written all over it but somehow the Austrian keeper managed to push the ball round for a corner. His face said it all. So close, yet so far. Again.

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When he had a free-kick within goalscoring range, Ronaldo fired a woeful effort straight at an Austrian defender.

Last Tuesday it was Iceland who got under his skin — defending for dear life and managing to snatch a 1-1 draw. Yesterday it was Austria. Another game where Portugal peppered their opponents and should have won easily.

More shots, more possession, more corners, more crosses, more quality but no end product. And, unfortunately for them, they were up against an inspired keeper.

Austria should have gone in front after four minutes. Marcel Sabitzer delivered a peach of a cross but Martin Harnik nodded it wide.

Nani blew a golden chance in the 13th minute when he raced through one-on-one with Almer but shot straight at the keeper, who was able to parry out.

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The rebound fell to Vieirinha but his effort was turned around a post.

And Austrian hearts were in mouths as Ricardo Carvalho headed just over.

Nani was having a great game and his powerful header from Andre Gomes’ cross was saved brilliantly by Almer.

Then Ronaldo managed to slip free of his marker to meet a Nani cross but Almer pulled off another top save.

Pepe had his name taken after fouling David Alaba on the right edge of the box — and the Austrian star’s driven free-kick was cleared off the line by Vieirinha with Harnik ready to pounce.

Austria raced out of the blocks after the break and Stefan Ilsanker saw Rui Patricio push away his 20-yarder.

From the off it was all about one man — Ronaldo. He sent a free-kick over, had a header saved  and then fluffed his chance from 12 yards.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos said: “I’m not talking about Cristiano. We’re going through a tough time.”

Ronaldo added: “Success is not just about the result. Football is about how well you play. We continue to believe.”