‘He’s absolutely raging’ – Cristiano Ronaldo’s post-match meltdown after Scotland vs. Portugal explained | Sporting News India

Portugal were unable to maintain their 100% record in the UEFA Nations League as they shared a frustrating 0-0 draw with Scotland at Hampden Park. Cristiano Ronaldo was not happy.

On his 200th international start, Ronaldo was unable to repeat the late winner he claimed against the Tartan Army in Lisbon last month and, after the full-time whistle, he gesticulated in an animated style.

There was anger towards the match officials and an array of hand gestures showing both sarcasm and irritation towards the voluble home crowd, who lapped up the night’s star attraction losing his temper.

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The spark that ignited Ronaldo’s post-match performance was referee Lawrence Visser’s decision to blow for fulltime despite Portugal winning a corner. Visser could justifiably counter that the four minutes of stoppage time signalled had already elapsed at this point.

“Ronaldo’s not happy with the ref, look. He’s absolutely raging,” former Scotland and Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew observed on co-commentary.

However, Ronaldo had seemed short-tempered for much of the second half. Scotland’s dogged defending was part of the reason for that, while he also had to deal with the tiresome and worrying recent phenomenon of fans running onto the field to approach him on a couple of occasions.

Seguimos juntos pic.twitter.com/mAMCbgd26C

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 15, 2024

“We always fight for a win, Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo told UEFA.com afterwards. “I think we deserved more from the game. It was not a top performance from us. The game was sometimes a bit slow because Scotland had a low block, and we had a lot of possession without creating many chances.”

Frustrations aside, Ronaldo and Portugal remain firmly on course for a spot in the Nations League’s new quarterfinal stage after taking 10 points from four matches to sit three points clear of Croatia at the top of Group A1.