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(Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo is in no hazard of shedding the Portugal captaincy over his outburst on the finish of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier towards Serbia, coach Fernando Santos stated.
Ronaldo stormed off the pitch seconds earlier than the ultimate whistle and bought booked for dissent after he was denied a stoppage-time objective in Saturday’s 2-2 draw.
The 36-year-old was left fuming when his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the road. With no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in place, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie waved play on and a furious Ronaldo threw away the captain’s armband as he headed in the direction of the tunnel.
“Sure, he’ll preserve the armband. Perpetually,” stated Santos. “Cristiano is a nationwide instance.
“If he had offended the supervisor, his crew mates or the federation in a inconsiderate angle, then we must handle the scenario. However nothing like that occurred.
“It was a second of giant frustration. And we’re speaking a few participant who’s unbeatable in the case of his eagerness to win.
“No person will say now that his response was lovely, however there is no level to debate if Cristiano ought to stay the captain. That is one thing I need to be very clear about.”
Referee Makkelie informed Portuguese newspaper A Bola on Monday that he had apologised to Santos and the remainder of the crew for the error.
UEFA stated Ronaldo’s objective would have stood if the soccer governing our bodies of Serbia and Portugal had each agreed earlier than the sport to make use of goal-line know-how.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Modifying by Peter Rutherford)
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