Cristiano Ronaldo tried to put the blame for his red card on the feet of Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson after Portugal’s World Cup defeat in Dublin.
Troy Parrott scored twice for the Boys in Green as they sealed a priceless victory on the Aviva Stadium to maintain their hopes of World Cup qualification alive heading into their final game against Hungary on the weekend.
While Parrott did the damage within the first-half, Portugal’s hopes of a fightback were dented after Ronaldo was dismissed after 62 minutes.
The Al-Nassr star threw an elbow at Dara O’Shea following a tussle between the pair. Ronaldo was initially booked, seen mocking O’Shea with a crying gesture before referee Glenn Nyberg was instructed by VAR to review the choice.
Ronaldo’s yellow was upgraded to a red, ruling him out of Portugal’s final qualifying game against Armenia on Sunday with their place in next summer’s World Cup still not secure.
‘He complimented me with putting pressure on the referee but listen, it had nothing to do with me, it was his motion on the pitch that cost him a red card,’ Hallgrimsson said post-match.
‘It had nothing to do with me unless I got into his head.’
He added: “He said that to me walking way. He told me it was a clever thing to do. He blamed the referee or whomever for this, but it surely was his silly decision to attack our player.”
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez meanwhile attempted to defend Ronaldo, insisting his captain had tried to ‘push’ O’Shea away.
‘It’s difficult for a player like Cristiano to be within the penalty area,’ Martinez said.
‘He had constant contact with the defenders, who were grabbing him. There was no violence — he tried to push them away.
‘He was unlucky. I feel the angle of the pictures makes it worse than it actually happened. It’s his first red card for the national team, it’s incredible.’
MORE: Ruben Amorim responds to Cristiano Ronaldo dig and admits Man Utd ‘mistakes’
MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo reveals the 2 reasons he missed Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota’s funeral
MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo rules one team out of Premier League title race and makes Arsenal prediction