BEVERLY HILLS, March 28, (THEWILL) – Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch before full-time during Portugal’s 2-2 draw with Serbia on Saturday night as part of his reaction and protest against what he believed was a wrong decision by the referee and his assistants in the final moments of the fixture.
As some questioned his reaction, the Serie A striker doubled down, insisting he would “never change” especially for removing his captain’s armband and dumping it on the pitch as he angrily headed for the showers, having been denied a winning goal because it looked to have been cleared off the goal line.
Without goal line technology and in the absence of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the qualification series, there was no on-the-spot review to query the refereeing decision and the match continued to Ronaldo’s annoyance.
When the 36-year-old remonstrated with the assistant referee in anger, he instead got a booking for dissent.
Taking to social media post-match, Ronaldo issued a statement via Instagram that read: “I give and will always give my all for my country, that will never change. But there are difficult moments to cope with, especially when we feel like an entire nation is being harmed.
“Head up and face the next challenge! Come on Portugal!”
The tight encounter was tough for Serbia but they fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Portugal in the controversial World Cup Qualifier in Belgrade. In what was Portuguese manager Fernando Santos’ 1000th game as a coach, Diogo Jota’s two first-half headers were cancelled out by goals from record breaker Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic.
Only for the visitors to be denied a last-gasp winner by the linesman when Ronaldo’s finish from a tricky angle was cleared off the line by Stefan Mitrovic. Television replays suggest the ball crossed the line and the goal should have stood. It was after he was booked for protesting that decision that Ronaldo threw his captain’s armband to the ground and stormed down the tunnel in disgust.
And, it is for those final moments that the game will be remembered rather than the Jota brace or Serbia’s remarkable and magnificent comeback.
Coach Santos later revealed that the referee, who denied them the winner, Danny Makkelie, came and apologised to the team after the match ended and they realised their grave error. But, the damage had already been done.
It makes a strong case for the use of assistive technology in games of such magnitude to minimise human error and preserve sport integrity.
However, FIFA does not mandate that goal-line technology be used in their qualification games which is incredible given how successful it has been, especially when compared to its more controversially similar technology VAR. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for the world football governing body to reconsider.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
