The girlfriend of Portugal midfielder João Neves is continuing to receive insults online from fans of his team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, but the reply which sparked the onslaught seems to be fake, according to media reports.
There are now more than 7,000 comments under an Instagram post by actress Madalena Aragão, many of them offensive.
After the 1-1 World Cup draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, a Ronaldo fan appeared to write on her profile, telling her to get her partner to pass to "my GOAT (the greatest of all time)."
The apparent reply from the actress was: "Tell your goat to retire. He's very selfish!"
But media reports in Portugal have speculated that it was not her reply at all but instead manipulation using artificial intelligence.
The reports said an Instagram account had been set up for the reply that looked deceptively similar to her profile.
Due to the hateful responses, she has restricted the comment function on her account.
