Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-Premier League rival brands Portugal star ’embarrassing’ after he breaks down in tears
The Liverpool and Manchester City legend didn’t hold back in his brutal assessment.
Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann had a lot to say about Cristiano Ronaldo’s emotional display on Monday night.
The Euro 2024 round of 16 is nearly over, with the final matches set to take place on Tuesday evening.
On Monday, France secured a late goal to squeak past Belgium in a 1-0 win while Portugal defeated Slovenia 3-0 in the first penalty shootout of the tournament.
But the biggest moment of Monday’s matches wasn’t the goals, as Portugal captain Ronaldo was seen sobbing after missing a penalty in the 15th minute of extra time that would have likely secured progression for his side.
And German icon Hamann did not hold back in his assessment of the striker’s emotional reaction.
Speaking on RTE Sport, he said: “All he thinks about is himself.
“I think he showed his true colours again. Missing the penalty, he starts crying on the pitch, he starts crying at half-time in extra-time. And I’m thinking: ‘It’s not all about you’.
“There’s a squad of 26 players. There’s 20 staff, there’s 30 or 40,000 fans in there. It’s not about you. You try to be mutual, but I was cheering Slovenia on because I thought the reaction was embarrassing, I thought it was out of order. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Hamann, who played Ronaldo during his seven years at Liverpool and three with Manchester City, added that, had he been the manager, he would have taken the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star off the pitch over concerns he wasn’t in the right headspace to continue.
“Once you show emotions, once you get emotional, it’s the end of it, so that was the point where the manager had to say you’ve got to come off because you’re not in the right frame of mind to carry on playing,” Hamann added.
“He will start the next game, but I can’t see any other outcome than a France win.”
But, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez decided to keep his star player on, a decision which appeared to pay off after Ronaldo stepped up and scored the first penalty of the shoutout.
Three heroic saves from Diogo Costa and goals from Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva secured the win for Portugal.
They will face France in the quarterfinals on Friday night in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, with kick off at 8pm BST.