Parking the bus? Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer mystifies fans with tweet as his side suffers exit against Spain at Euro 2020

Tennis legend Roger Federer mystified fans with an animation of a revolving bus during his country's heartbreaking Euro 2020 quarterfinal loss to Spain, reacting to a rollercoaster of a game as his nation went out on penalties.

Following their thrilling victory over favorites France on Monday in the last 16, which was their first knockout tie win in 67 years, Federer's weekend could have got off to the perfect start had Switzerland seen off Luis Enrique's Spain.

That would also have given him bragging rights over generational rival Rafael Nadal, who hails from the Balearic Island of Mallorca.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner had been in good spirits earlier on in the day with his first post on Twitter.

Uploading a photo of himself celebrating in front of an adoring SW19 crowd after beating Richard Gasquet in three sets yesterday at Wimbledon, he had a message for his fans. 

"After 18 months of rehabbing and performing behind closed doors, playing on Centre Court to a passionate crowd makes it all worth it. Thank you," the 39-year-old wrote.

Around kick-off, he posted a clever emoji containing eyes, nose and a football mouth with Swiss flag ears.

But that soon turned to an angry face alongside furious smilies with smoke coming out of their nose once Remo Freuler received a bizarre and potentially unfair red card for a challenge deep into the second half.

Federer then baffled his followers with a mystifying tweet that seemed to be a reference to the classic description of "parking the bus" in football, which is used to describe a team putting men behind the ball en masse to defend one's goal while seldom trying to attack. 

Fellow tennis pro Pablo Andujar and other commenters found the dig at his country amusing as Spain settled for a 1-1 draw in extra time.

But they had the last laugh as the Swiss performed horribly from 12 yards out, losing 3-1 on penalties.