When Cristiano Ronaldo left the field in a rage late on Saturday evening, the game was still running normally. The Portuguese superstar didn’t care at all, the mood had long since been ruined by the referee team.
Got away seconds before the final whistle: Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Getty Images
–
With the second win in the second World Cup qualifier, Portugal (1-0 against Azerbaijan at the beginning) could have made themselves comfortable in Group A at the top. And although the Seleçao had lost a 2-0 in the meantime after a double by Diogo Jota during the guest appearance in Serbia (Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic scored), this wishful idea of the full six points actually came about.
Actually …
Because although leader Cristiano Ronaldo had pushed the ball into the goal in the third minute of stoppage time to 3-2 after the red card imposed shortly before against Nikola Milenkovic and after the bad misjudgment of keeper Marko Dmitrovic, the goal did not count. The reason: The Dutch referee Danny Makkelie had decided, in the absence of the VAR and the goal-line technique, that Stefan Mitrovic, who started the rescue tackle, had cleared the ball before it even passed the goal line. That was not the case, which admittedly was difficult to see at real speed, but should nevertheless have counted as 3: 2.
CR7 no longer understood the world, gesticulated and smacked furiously, promptly saw yellow and then threw his captain’s armband on the floor, turned again with an incomprehensible look at the referee, and finally left the field during the last few seconds. His national team-mates tried to talk to the team again shortly after the final whistle, but it didn’t help – in the end it was and is a 2-2 in Serbia for Portugal.
“Harmed an entire nation”
But the southern Europeans did not make a catch behind it. “There are moments that are difficult to deal with,” wrote about 3-2 shooter Cristiano Ronaldo himself on Instagram that evening. “Especially when we have the feeling that an entire nation is being harmed.” The next day the Portuguese sports press became even clearer: “THEFT!” Was the headline of the journal “Record” in large letters.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s national coach Fernando Santos did not heat the mood any further: “The referee apologized – and I have great respect for him.” The 66-year-old, who won the European Championship with the Portuguese selection in 2016, directed his criticism directly to FIFA and its lack of installation: “It cannot be that there is no goal-line technology and no video referee in a competition like this The ball was half a meter in the goal. ”
Cristiano’s reaction is understandable, but unworthy of a captain.
Incidentally, Santos “doesn’t want to let the thing with the bandage become a big deal” – something Portugal’s former international Fernando Meira saw a little differently. “It’s a clear goal, but Cristiano is not allowed to throw the armband on the floor,” said the ex-captain and 2007 championship player at VfB Stuttgart. “Cristiano’s reaction is understandable, but unworthy of a captain.”
–
