“He said, ‘Ronaldo thought he was offside’” - Gary Lineker and Micah Richards make bold claim about Cristiano Ronaldo assist to Bruno Fernandes
Football pundits Gary Lineker and Micah Richards broke down Cristiano Ronaldo's assist for Bruno Fernandes in Portugal's 3-0 win over Turkey at the UEFA Euro 2024. Lineker revealed that a journalist told him that the Portuguese icon was offside, whereas Richards echoed the sentiment.
Playing in his record-extending sixth European championship, Ronaldo's first and only major contribution of the group stages came with the assist for Fernandes on matchday two.
The 39-year-old broke the offside trap to sneak in behind the Turkish defense and connect with a cross. After scampering upwards, he only had goalkeeper Altay Bayındır to beat, but opted to square it for Fernandes on the left, who was unmarked, and tapped it home for 3-0.
Ronaldo was praised for his unselfishness there, but Lineker and Richards have made some bold claims about that assist now. Reviewing all the group stage action on 'The Rest Is Football', Richards said that Ronaldo regretted not scoring that chance soon after:
“Did you see the assist for Fernandes? From that angle, he [Ronaldo] could have shot but he put it on a plate for him. You could see it in his face, ‘I should have shot.’"
Linkener then chimed in, revealing that French journalist Julien Laurens told him that Ronaldo himself felt he was offside in the buildup, while expressing his disbelief over the player's decision to cut it for his teammate instead of going for goal.
“We were talking about this to Julien Laurens and he said, ‘the only way Ronaldo squared it was because he absolutely thought he was offside.’
“I never thought of it like that, but he said that. I’m not so sure that is true but maybe [it’s true]. We were all shocked that he squared it because normally he’d just knock those in [to the back of the net].”
Portugal play Slovenia in the Round of 16 on Monday at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt.
Ronaldo fails to score in the group stages for the first time
For the first time in his international career, Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in the group stages of a major tournament. The 39-year-old started in all three of their group fixtures at the Euro 2024 but failed to find the net.
In each of his previous five European championships, Ronaldo scored at least once in the first round, whereas all eight of his World Cup goals have come in the group stages.
His performance came under criticism in Portugal's shock 2-0 loss to Georgia in their last group match, with Ronaldo even getting subbed off in the second half. Fans will hope to see him among the goals in the last-16.