Cristiano Ronaldo ripped off his captain’s armband and tossed it onto the sector as he stomped off in disgust after Portugal’s 2-2 draw at Serbia in World Cup qualifying on Saturday.
In a break up second, Ronaldo had gone from savoring a last-gasp winner for his nation to protesting what he thought-about a transparent refereeing oversight with no video evaluation accessible.
The Portugal star got here oh-so-close to scoring a stoppage-time aim when Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic slid and swept the ball to obvious security although TV replays indicated it was a aim.
For Ronaldo, the ball had fully crossed the road. For Dutch referee Danny Makkelie it had not, and he rewarded Ronaldo’s complaints with a yellow card.
The incident will little doubt be utilized by followers of video evaluation to argue for using VAR in qualifying matches for the world’s most vital soccer event.
Juventus ahead Ronaldo made a veiled reference to the incident in a social media posting after the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch earlier than the ultimate whistle on the finish of the Serbia-Portugal sport, and threw his captain’s armband in frustration. pic.twitter.com/I2i9uwkPhM
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 27, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo was denied this final minute winner after the officers determined the ball didn’t cross the road.
Absolutely surprising determination. 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/pDjrniuPAF
— FootballFunnys (@FootballFunnnys) March 27, 2021
“Being captain of the Portugal team is one of the greatest sources of pride and privileges of my life. I always give and will give everything for my country, that will never change. But there are difficult times to deal with, especially when we feel that an entire nation is being harmed. Lift your head and face the next challenge now!” Ronaldo wrote in Portuguese on his Instagram account.
For 10-man Serbia, it was the right ending to an impressed fightback from a two-goal deficit.
For Diogo Jota, Portugal ought to have finished extra with the 2 objectives he scored within the first half.
“It looked like the hard part was done, but then they changed the system in the second half, scored quickly, and built on from there,” Jota stated. “At 15 minutes into the second half, we have already let Serbia draw. We had to kill the game.”
Serbia and Portugal have been left with 4 factors every atop Group A.
Luxembourg is subsequent with three factors after it shocked Ireland with a 1-0 victory in Dublin. That left Ireland and Azerbaijan with zero factors.
Portugal regarded able to roll to a convincing win after Jota scored with two headers.
The Liverpool ahead received Portugal going within the eleventh with a run to the left put up the place Bernardo Silva discovered him with a wonderfully positioned cross. Ronaldo helped by drawing in three Serbia defenders earlier than shedding for the unmarked Silva on the best facet of the field.
Serbia tried to reply by runs by left again Filip Kostic and the playmaking of midfielder Dusan Tadic. But the hosts by no means critically threatened Anthony Lopes’ internet earlier than Jota made it 2-0.
This time it was for proper again Cédric to ship a cross to the center of the field the place Jota separated from Nikola Milenkovic and sliced a glancing header off the put up and into the online within the thirty sixth.
The double gave Jota 5 objectives in 11 worldwide appearances.
But Serbia received again into the match after coach Dragan Stojkovic made two adjustments at halftime.
Substitute Nemanja Radonjic wanted lower than a minute to go for Aleksandar Mitrovic to move residence and set a Serbia nationwide staff document together with his thirty ninth worldwide aim.
On Wednesday, Mitrovic got here off the bench to attain a pair of second-half objectives to rally Serbia for a 3-2 win over Ireland.
Serbia pressed for an equalizer, and Lopes needed to stretch to palm Tadic’s strike over his bar within the 54th.
But Lopes was overwhelmed within the sixtieth when Serbia mounted a counterattack, with the ball flowing ahead from Tadic to Radonjic, who performed Filip Kostic clear to fit the ball residence.
Ronaldo was denied his likelihood to be the hero shortly after Serbia defender Nikola Milenkovic noticed a direct crimson card for a harmful studs-first sort out of Danilo.
KENNY QUESTIONS
Gerson Rodrigues sunk the Irish within the eighty fifth minute when the Luxembourg midfielder rifled in a shot from exterior the realm into the nook of the online.
The embarrassing defeat will put extra stress on coach Stephen Kenny, who has but to steer Ireland to a victory in 10 video games in cost.
