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Post draw, Ronaldo loses verbal battle
ST ETIENNE: Iceland hit back at Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo labelling him “not a gracious human being” after he slammed the Atlantic islanders’ tactics in a
ST ETIENNE: Iceland hit back at Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo labelling him “not a gracious human being” after he slammed the Atlantic islanders’ tactics in a 1-1 draw in Saint-Etienne.
Ronaldo accused Iceland of having a “small mentality” on Tuesday as they prevented the Real Madrid ace from becoming the first man to score in four European championship finals on their debut at a major international tournament.
“As everyone saw, Iceland just kicked the ball forward,” Ronaldo said. “They put the bus in the net. Iceland didn’t try nothing, they just defend, defend, defend. It was a lucky night for them. We’re frustrated, they didn’t try and play. It’s why I think they will do nothing here. In my opinion, it’s a small mentality,” the Real Madrid star said. “We were better, we created more chances and we could have won. It wasn’t an attractive game because only one team wanted to play. But that’s football, we can’t always win.”
Iceland players, however, did not take the accusations lightly.
“He’s a fantastic footballer, but he’s not a gracious human being and the thing is we almost nicked the win, so him saying we weren’t going for the win contradicts that ,” said midfielder Kari Arnason.
And Arnason even claimed the humble attitude of Ronaldo’s perennial rival for the crown of the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, makes him more loveable than Ronaldo.
“Obviously we’re not going to create as much chances as a fantastic team like Portugal, but his comments are the reason why Messi is always going to be one step ahead of him,” he said.
Ronaldo had 10 shots on goal, but stormed off the pitch at full-time in frustration as he was denied by Iceland’ s dogged defence and a great display from goal keeper Hannes Halldorsson.
“He had a header in the final minutes of the game and a chance in the first-half, but otherwise I thought we had him under control,” added Arnason.
“We didn’t set up to man-mark him or anything, we just had to know where he was at any given moment and that he will shoot from outside the box and that everything has to be blocked.”
Former Iceland international Hermann Hreidarsson branded Ronaldo a “sore loser”. “He though the could have goals handed to him on a plate,” Hreidarsson. “If he would have worked as hard as every Icelandic player, he wouldn’t have had to say anything because I’m sure he would have got his rewards.”