“All they’re thinking is ‘has this guy recovered yet?’” - Liverpool legend slams Cristiano Ronaldo for putting teammates in difficult mental state
Football pundit Steve Nicol questioned Cristiano Ronaldo's attitude after he burst into tears after missing an extra-time penalty in Portugal's Euro 2024 Round of 16 clash against Slovenia. Portugal went on to win the game in the shootout, with Ronaldo converting his spot-kick.
Nicol, however, wasn't pleased to see the Al Nassr start to cry as he felt it put his teammates in a difficult situation. In a post-match show on ESPN, Nicol highlighted that Portuguese players looked worried about Ronaldo, saying:
“Ronaldo is not just a football player to Portugal, he’s way beyond that. So how do you think that affects the team, when the guy who is way up there looks as though he’s mentally collapsed? We all understand that the way he is mentally, he can pull himself together the way he did in a short space of time [during the penalty shootout]. But we don’t know what the rest of the team are like and so to do that was not only putting his team in a bad position by missing a penalty, he’s now put them in a mental state as well."
“All they’re thinking is, ‘has this guy recovered yet?’ The game has kicked off and I’m sure some of the players were still thinking, ‘is he okay?’ I don’t get it. There’s one thing to take responsibility and that’s fantastic and what you want in any player. When you’ve got a 39-year-old forward and you’re in extra time, are you telling me the right thing to do is keep him on? I don’t think so,” he added.
Slovenia captain Jan Oblak saved Ronaldo's penalty in the extra time but couldn't do so in the shoot-out as Portugal won 3-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal saved by Diogo Costa
Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty miss against Slovenia could have proved costly if not for Diogo Costa. The Portugal goalkeeper made a sensational save to deny Benjamin Sesko, minutes after Oblak's save, in a one-on-one situation from open play.
This ensured the match finished goalless and a penalty shootout was needed to determine the winner. Costa then pulled off three consecutive saves to deny all of Slovenia's takers to put Portugal in a comfortable position.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva made no mistake with their efforts and sealed a 3-0 win in the shootout. They will now face France in the quarterfinal.