Cristiano Ronaldo slammed for ‘utterly embarrassing’ reaction to penalty miss

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The Football Faithful

·02 de julho de 2024

Cristiano Ronaldo slammed for ‘utterly embarrassing’ reaction to penalty miss

Cristiano Ronaldo has been heavily criticised for his reaction to missing a penalty for Portugal against Slovenia at Euro 2024.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward was handed the opportunity to break the deadlock in the round of 16 game when the referee pointed to the spot in extra time following a contentious foul on Diogo Jota in the box.

Vídeos OneFootball

Jan Oblak was equal to the 39-year-old’s spot kick, however, and went on to keep a clean sheet against one of the tournament’s heavy hitters after 120 minutes.

Ronaldo burst into tears at the break and had to be consoled by teammates, in particular Man United full-back Diogo Dalot.

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The Al-Nassr striker, who is yet to find the net at Euro 2024, managed to compose himself after the game went to penalties, converting Portugal’s first attempt as they went on to win the shootout 3-0.

Rather than celebrate his finish, Ronaldo put his hands in the air towards the fans in an overly performative show of contrition.

Pundit and ex-Germany international Dietmar Hamann was scathing in his response to the extraordinary scenes.

“He’s got a responsibility towards the team, he’s the captain of the team, and if he doesn’t feel as if he can help the team anymore then he’s got to tell the manager ‘take me off’,” the former Liverpool and Man City midfielder told RTÉ after the game.

“This is the most embarrassing, ridiculous decision I’ve ever seen. He’s meant to be a role model, there’s a lot of kids that want to be like him, but failing is a part of the game.”

Hamann contrasted Ronaldo’s reaction with that of Luka Modric after the Croatian missed a crucial penalty against Italy in the group stage. The Real Madrid playmaker responded by scoring just two minutes later.

“This is how it should be,” he insisted. “They don’t need to apologise. If you take the responsibility and you miss, that’s part of the game. No one will have a go at him for missing it.

“I don’t know what he wanted to tell us with his reaction. I just found it utterly embarrassing what he did, because it’s a team game and you’re still in the game! It’s still nil-nil. You’ve still got every chance to go through. Obviously if (Benjamin) Sesko scores that chance then it would have mattered, but he could have cried after the game.”

Hamann went on to explain that he thinks the entire episode is a reflection of Ronaldo’s selfishness.

“In the first half he took a ball away from somebody else and he tried to spin and hit it with his left foot when the shot wasn’t on,” he said. “You’ve got a responsibility towards the team, the staff, the nation, everybody. He just thinks it’s about himself.

“He’s been a terrific footballer, the number he’s amassed probably won’t be beaten. Lionel Messi and him are two of a kind. But here you’ve got a guy who misses a penalty who starts crying on the pitch, which I’ve never seen before, and there’s young kids, the Portugal substitutes, they hug him, a guy with over 200 caps, at halftime of extratime. Out of order.”

Portugal will face France in the quarter-finals on Friday.

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