“He cried, and I loved that personally” - Neal Maupay on ‘hate’ from fans after Cristiano Ronaldo breaks down into tears at Euro 2024
French forward Neal Maupay has weighed in on the criticism Cristiano Ronaldo received after the Portugal star burst into tears during their Euro 2024 Round-of-16 clash against Slovenia. The 39-year-old cried after missing a crucial penalty at Deutsche Bank Park on Monday (July 1).
Following an eventful yet goalless 90 minutes, Ronaldo missed a penalty in the 105th minute after Slovenian defender Vanja Drkušić committed a foul on Diogo Jota in the penalty area. The Al-Nassr star was seen getting consoled by his national teammates before the beginning of the second half of extra time.
After both sides failed to score in the extra time, Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa saved all three penalties from Slovenia's Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec, and Benjamin Verbic. Portugal netted all three of their penalties, taken by Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernardo Silva.
A section of fans criticized Ronaldo for getting emotional on the pitch. Addressing the situation, Neal Maupay told talkSPORT:
"There’s no shame in crying. Sometimes it annoys me, football fans want players to be normal people. They say, ‘They are superstars, they don’t care about the world we live in.’ Then when arguably the biggest player in football history cries on the pitch because he’s got emotions, everyone is on him."
"I don’t really get that. It’s normal, he missed a penalty and at the time, he maybe thought we might get knocked out because of me. He cried, and I loved that personally, so I don’t really get the hate," added the 27-year-old Frenchman.
Following the 3-0 win on penalties against Slovenia, Portugal are pitted against Kylian Mbappe's France in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, on Friday (July 5), at Volksparkstadion, in Hamburg, Germany.
Cristiano Ronaldo sends message ahead of Euro 2024 quarter-final vs France
Following Portugal's victory against Slovenia in the Round of 16, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about the Selecao facing France in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
Referring to the upcoming challenge in Euro 2024 as "war", the five-time Ballon d'Or winner said (via O Jogo):
"We’re going to have a tough game now against France, which is one of the favorites to win. But we go to war, the team is fine and I will always do my best with this sweater. I missed the penalty but I wanted to be the first to score, because we have to take responsibility. I’ve never been afraid to face things as always."
Portugal won the UEFA European Championship once in 2016 while France have claimed it twice, in 1984, and 2000.