Former Bayern player denounces Cristiano Ronaldo’s shameful attitude against Slovenia

Last night, Cristiano Ronaldo had a particularly emotional evening against Slovenia. While Portugal ended up securing their ticket to the quarter-finals (they will face France next Friday, editor’s note), CR7 made a name for himself by bursting into tears after missing a penalty at the very end of the match. And while some thought they were seeing a sensitive Ronaldo, former German football star Dietmar Hamann (50 years old) didn’t mince his words.

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“At 39, he plays 120 minutes, misses a penalty and I have to say that I believed all those who said that ‘Ronaldo has become a team player because he needs the team more than before’. I believed that nonsense too, but I think that tonight (yesterday) he showed his true colors again. He misses the penalty, he cries on the pitch, he cries at half-time in extra time. There is a group of 26 players, 20 staff members, 30,000 or 40,000 fans, it is not you who are to blame. We try to be objective, but I was cheering for Slovenia because I found the reaction (of CR7) shameful, inappropriate. I had never seen anything like it, because once you show emotion, once you are moved, it is over. At that point the coach should have said: ‘You have to come off because you are no longer fit to play’. You have to give him credit for taking the first penalty and he took it well, it was a very good penalty, but as I said, I believed the whole ‘Ronaldo has become a team player’ thing, it is completely absurd. He only thinks about himself. He scores the penalty and apologises to the fans, he doesn’t need to apologise. He will start the next game, but I don’t see any other result than a victory for France”he said on RTE.