Iceland were in celebratory mood after holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw on their Euro 2016 debut, and who can blame them.
Well, Cristiano Ronaldo can blame them, apparently.
The smallest country to ever play a European Championships group game denied the 2004 finalists with a spirited defensive performance, giving them a real chance of making the last 16.
They also set a new, very odd, surname-based record.
But Ronaldo, who failed to score and sent two late free-kicks into the wall, was not best pleased.
https://twitter.com/eaamalyon/status/742836917046247424
That was only the beginning. Ronaldo continued:
“It was a lucky night for them. We should have three points but we are OK. I thought they’d won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end. It was unbelievable.
“When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this in my opinion shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition.”
Portugal had 66% possession and 25 shots, according to UEFA’s official report of the Group F game.
But then again, isn’t that what you’d expect? The team with arguably the best attacking player in the world were the ones on the front foot, and their opponents did all they could to contain them.
After Kári Árnason’s Malmö shipped 10 goals to Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in two Champions League games this season (and six to Ronaldo alone), the Iceland centre-back was hardly going to open himself up to another similar humiliation.
Ronaldo has, unsurprisingly, received quite the backlash for his comments.
Monumental player, Ronaldo, but if he was one of your mates, there'd be a WhatsApp group he didn't know about.
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) June 14, 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo does a lot of genuine good beyond football. Ill-conceived comments like that reduce him to this bitter, gelled totem.
— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) June 14, 2016
Bitter and fairly pathetic stuff from Ronaldo. Not their fault you didn't turn up, and badly wasted your only chance.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) June 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/JongsmaJongsma/status/742840686412767232
Cristiano's slowly turning into Maradona. Looking forward to another 30 years of him saying all his successors at Real and Portugal are shit
— Bwlch y Groes (@bwlch_y_groes) June 14, 2016
