His tears went around the world. Now the superstar himself has revealed the reasons.
Cristiano Ronaldo (39) missed from the penalty spot during Portugal’s victory against Slovenia (3:0 on penalties) in the European Championship round of 16. The superstar then burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying. Now Ronaldo has spoken about the penalty drama – and caused fans to shake their heads.
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Cristiano Ronaldo explains tearful drama at the European Championship
On his new YouTube channel “UR Cristiano” (German: You are Cristiano), the Portuguese spoke to former Premier League star Rio Ferdinand (45/his former teammate at Manchester United) about the tearful drama.
In doing so, Ronaldo revealed: “I didn’t cry because I felt that if I didn’t score a goal, Portugal would be eliminated and the world would collapse around me. That’s not the reason.”
But why then? The superstar: “People don’t know me. Imagine that you scored the last 27 penalties. And then you just feel bad. The people who come to the stadium, your children, your mother, your girlfriend, everyone. I felt sad about it.” Then he adds: “I didn’t even think about it (that Portugal would lose – ed.).”
Ronaldo was totally devastated after the missed shot at the European Championships and had to be consoled by teammate Dalot (r.)
Foto: Getty Images
Fans on social media cannot understand the statements and wonder: Is his penalty series more important to him than the success of the Portugal national team? One user writes: “He only thought about his record and not about his country.” Another says: “He doesn’t even hide his egoism anymore.”
Ronaldo continued: “I was sad because of the pressure I put on myself since I was 11 years old. ‘Cristiano Ronaldo, you are the best player in the world’, that’s always in my head. And that puts a lot of pressure on me. So when something goes wrong, you feel it. But I love it, I know how to deal with it.”
video-heading">Ronaldo speaks plainly! “If you talk about me, you’ll be on the front page”
Those: YouTube @cristiano29.08.2024
For the record international player (212 international matches, 130 goals), the missed shot was the 29th penalty he missed in his career (out of 193!). And yet there was reason to celebrate at the end of the European Championship match against Slovenia. In the penalty shootout, he scored from the spot, winning 3-0 to take Portugal into the next round. In the quarter-finals, they were eliminated by France (3-5 on penalties).
