Many people believe that referee Sandro Schaerer handled it incorrectly when denying a penalty when C. Ronaldo was pulled down in the penalty area.
Coach Roberto Martinez left many of the Portuguese team’s key players on the bench in the match against Georgia in the final match of Group F Euro 2024 last night. Even so, he still gave the opportunity to C.Ronaldo.
C.Ronaldo had his shirt pulled in the penalty area (Photo: Getty).
The striker born in 1985 is very “thirsty” for goals to go down in history at Euro. In fact, the entire Portuguese team pumped the ball for C. Ronaldo, but this player did not leave any mark. During the match, CR7 only had one shot on target, which was a free kick at a distance of about 30 meters.
Not only that, C. Ronaldo also received a yellow card in this match for his reaction to the referee. The 39-year-old player believed that Portugal should have been awarded a penalty in the penalty area. However, referee Sandro Schaerer still refused.
Speaking after the match, Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said the referee was wrong in this situation: “VAR worked inconsistently. It was clearly a penalty for Portugal. We suffered an unfair decision.”
C. Ronaldo reacted violently to the referee and received a yellow card (Photo: Getty).
Meanwhile, former Portuguese referee Duarte Gomes only gave referee Sandro Schaerer 4 points in this match. Commenting on the situation where C.Ronaldo was denied a penalty, he said: “Lochoshvili pulled C.Ronaldo’s shirt for about 4 seconds in the decisive situation. The Portuguese player tried to escape and the situation was clear. The situation of pulling his shirt affected his movements.
It was an unusual action in Georgia’s penalty area. Portugal deserved a penalty. The referee should have consulted the VAR screen.”
Despite reaching the milestone of 50 appearances in the World Cup and Euro, C.Ronaldo set a bad record. Accordingly, this is the first major tournament in which superstar No. 7 has not been able to score in the group stage in his career. Since his debut at Euro 2024, C.Ronaldo has scored in the group stage of 10 major tournaments attended. In the 2022 World Cup, even though it was a big disappointment, CR7 still had 1 goal in the group stage.
Because of this, C. Ronaldo was extremely angry when he was substituted by coach Roberto Martinez in the 65th minute. This player kicked the water bottle away, before holding his head on the bench.
In the round of 16 of Euro 2024, Portugal will face Slovenia. The match will take place at 02:00 on July 2.
