Cristiano Ronaldo made little effort to hide his frustration after being dragged out of Portugal’s World Cup win over Croatia. The Al Nasr forward watched the match unfold from the dugout, with his team emerging as 2-1 winners after their opponents were denied a controversial equalizing goal in second-half stoppage time.
The 41-year-old featured every moment of the World Cup until manager Roberto Martinez chose to send him off in the 81st minute. The veteran grimaced and hesitated before accepting the substitution, clearly dissatisfied with his manager’s instructions.
Ronaldo had already found the back of the net with his first goal in the World Cup finals, canceling out Ivan Perisic’s opener and leveling the score with Portugal. The former Real Madrid icon has previously seen his shot ruled out for offside and then braved it.
However, with less than 10 minutes of regulation time remaining, coach Martínez decided that a decisive goal would come from somewhere and brought on Ruben Neves in place of Ronaldo.
“Look at his face,” Matt Upson said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “Immediately, he shook his head in disappointment. He couldn’t hide it.
“I think Martínez made a smart decision to bring Portugal into the game fresh.”
Fellow commentator Stephen Warnock expressed a similar view. “Cristiano Ronaldo is not happy. Not happy at all,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the name, it’s the right decision. Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t have enough influence on the game. Yes, he scored the penalty. The combination play, the pressing, that’s not in him.”
“For the good of the team, that’s what Roberto Martinez has to think about. He has to put his ego aside and think about the big picture.”
Ronaldo’s face lit up with joy when Portugal finally qualified for the last 16 and will face Spain after Croatia’s last-minute equalizer was dramatically canceled out by VAR. The Portugal captain also paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota by wearing a shirt bearing his number during the full-time celebrations.
Speaking after the final whistle, Theo Walcott supported the decision to substitute Ronaldo, but admitted he had doubts at the time.
“Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance and we had a discussion and thought about taking him out right before the goal was offside, but I thought ‘I can’t take him out’,” he said.
“I think it was the right decision in the end, and it was the right thing to do, including his reaction, and these were beautiful scenes.
