Football
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks silence after his furious outburst following Portugal’s draw with Scotland
Cristiano Ronaldo has commented for the first time since his furious outburst after Portugal’s disappointing draw with Scotland.
Portugal were held to a goalless draw at Hampden Park on Tuesday night, with Ronaldo and his teammates squandering several chances to win the match.
As expected, the visitors dominated the game but were unable to break through a resolute Scottish defence.
Ronaldo was left incensed at the end of the match when referee Lawrence Visser blew the full-time whistle, rather than allowing Portugal to take a corner in added time.
Al Nassr star Ronaldo exploded in a fit of rage at the decision, storming off the pitch while gesticulating to the officials, his teammates and the crowd.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star also appeared to head down the tunnel without shaking hands with his opponents.
Former Scotland international Charlie Mulgrew, who was on co-commentary duty for ViaPlay, joked that Ronaldo “looked raging” as his left the pitch.
Ronaldo later took to social media to issue a two-word statement: “Seguimos juntos”, alongside a picture of him and his teammates.
It translates to “We continue together”.
Speaking after the match, Portugal star Joao Palhinha questioned the referee’s decision to blow the full-time whistle but said it was not an excuse for his side’s failure to win the match.
“The refereeing could have been much better, the game was often stopped,” Palhinha told Portuguese outlet O Jogo.
Ronaldo lost his head after Portugal’s draw with Scotland (Image: Getty)
“If I were to give my honest opinion… I don’t want to get into trouble, it’s better to keep quiet, but it wasn’t because of the refereeing that we didn’t win the game. It wasn’t a good job, but it’s our fault that we ended up drawing.
“We’re still in first place in the group and now we have two games, one home and one away, and we have to keep up the good streak in the national team.”
The draw keeps Portugal top of their Nations League group, three points ahead of closest rivals Croatia – who drew 3-3 with Poland on Tuesday night.
Scotland, meanwhile, remain bottom of the group, having picked up just a single point from their first four games.