Gary Lineker has compared Cristiano Ronaldo to a frustrated schoolboy after his tantrum in Portugal’s round of 16 clash with Slovenia.

The 39-year-old took – and missed – a number of close-range free kicks during Monday’s knockout clash, but had a chance to make up for lost chances in extra-time with the game tied at 0-0. Diogo Jota made a remarkable solo-run into the opposition box, before being brought down by Vanja Drkusic to win a penalty.

Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot-kick, driving it into the bottom right corner, but Jan Oblak made a remarkable save to keep the game level and take it to a penalty shootout. The Al-Nassr man was consoled by his team-mates after the emotion of missing a crucial opportunity got the better of him, although Lineker and Alan Shearer questioned why the game was all about him.

Speaking on the The Rest Is Football podcast, BBC pundit Lineker said: “Sesko went through didn’t he? One on one and the keeper saved it and he saved all the penalties in the shootout – but even then, the day was not about him was it? It ended up being about Cristiano Ronaldo who kind of had about four free kick attempts, I think.

“Who had a missed penalty, a one on one with the goalkeeper and missed them and obviously burst into tears and got all emotional and it became about him. Do you think that becomes a little bit of a problem for Portugal?”

To which, Shearer responded: “Well I said didn’t I before a ball was kicked that if Portugal are going to go deep into the tournament, it all depends on how Roberto Martinez handles and deals with him? And that still is the case because he’s played every game – I know he took him off in the third game – but other than him, I think the goalkeeper and Paulinha, the rest of the first team was rested for the third group game.

It was a night to forget for Ronaldo, even though Portugal advanced ( 

Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
“That game sort of summed it up as that is how it’s going to be for Portugal – it has to be about Ronaldo. He’s 39 years of age, clearly he’s not as good as he was, he’s not as quick as he was, he’s not as sharp as he was in the box. But his movement is still very, very good.

“He obviously demands to play every game, he demands to take every free kick. I mean you’ve got Bruno Fernandes on there who’s a wonderful free kick taker – and he had, I dunno, maybe four or five and one of them was from a ridiculous angle where he had to get on it and he had to shoot. And then obviously the penalty and then he bursts into tears after that. It was hysterical wasn’t it?”

Lineker then compared the Slovenia game with his own emotions at Euro 1990, after Paul Gascoigne received a yellow card against Germany – meaning that he would have missed the final if England were to have made it through their close-fought semi. He admitted that he could “understand his emotion for that” but criticised Ronaldo’s outburst over a missed penalty – citing how he hasn’t scored in the tournament and he understands that he wants to carry on his record of scoring in consecutive European Championships.

He added: “But the team weren’t losing, there was still lots to play for and it was almost…I don’t want to say this, but it was almost like a really talented schoolboy when things don’t happen for him and he has a bit of a breakdown, I’ve seen it. And it was different to the Gazza thing, and Gazza, his bottom lip went slightly – but this was a kind of a full outburst.

“It is amazing though, he just shows you that he’s so, so driven – which is one of the reasons why he’s as great as he is in many ways. I think Roberto Martinez has handled him really well, because you either say to Ronaldo ‘you’re completely out or you’re completely in’, I don’t think you can have any middle ground.

“But I watch him, and I still think he’s a massive threat in the box. His movement is brilliant, he can’t quite climb as high as he used to do, but you know, he still might do something. But if he’d have taken him off in that game – which he could quite have conceivably have done – it would have caused a furore in the camp. So I think it’s a very delicate issue with him, and whether that will have any kind of negative effect or impactful effect on how Portugal finish the tournament, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The trio then carried on talking about Ronaldo’s penchant for taking – and missing – free kicks, as Shearer said: “The free-kick scenarios, it has to come from him to say ‘well, go on, you take it,’ rather than someone else coming along and saying ‘come on, let me have one now.’ He has to say ‘go on, you have a go.’

“His record is terrible on free-kicks, it’s awful.” Lineker added: “I find it fascinating, the whole thing with the Ronaldo show. For a manager, you know you’ve got someone whose powers are waning, and he’s 39, but he’s still Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s a superstar.

“He is almost the most famous person on the planet, not just a footballer. He’s right up there in the top five most famous people in the world. If you leave him out now, the thing becomes a s***show. I think Roberto Martinez has handled him really well, I think he appeases his ego, even when he misses the penalty at the end he was up to him and hugging him. It’s brilliant management, brilliant man management of a person who is probably difficult to man manage.”

Portugal went n to win the game following a tense penalty shootout. Josip Ilicic had his initial spot-kick saved by Diogo Costa, before Ronaldo buried his second penalty of the game into the side netting – before apologising for his earlier miss. Despite defending superbly during the fixture, Jure Balkovec saw his penalty saved, before Fernandes made it 2-0 to Portugal in the shootout.

The pressure was on for Benjamin Verbic as he stepped up to the plate in Slovenia’s third chance from 12 yards, only to be denied by an in-form Costa. And Bernardo Silva would seal the deal for his nation by sending Oblak the wrong way, ensuring Portugal’s spot in the quarter-finals, where they will face France on Friday.