Cristiano Ronaldo[1] was dragged into a spicy conflict with a former Liverpool[2] goalkeeper on international duty on Saturday.
Portugal ran out 1-0 winners against Ireland thanks to a 91st-minute header from Ruben Neves[3], who unveiled an honorary tattoo in tribute to late team-mate Diogo Jota[4].
But it was a frustrating night for Ronaldo as he locked horns with Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kelleher, 26, saved a 76th-minute penalty with an acrobatic leg to deny the forward a step closer to his target of 1,000 career goals – then celebrated wildly.
And footage from the stands shows tension between the pair simmering earlier in the game, with Ronaldo trying to stop Kelleher time-wasting by placing the ball down for a goal kick and clapping in his face and gesturing for him to speed up.
Kelleher has a nonchalant attitude and gives the 40-year-old a sarcastic thumbs-up before taking his time over the kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a heated spat with Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher
He took issue with Kelleher’s time-wasting and attempted to hurry him along
Kelleher went on to celebrate wildly after saving a spot-kick from Ronaldo later in the game
Ronaldo appears to protest at the referee but the Brentford stopper was in no mood to give him any advantage.
Ultimately Portugal had the last laugh, though, as they won and extended their lead at the top of World Cup qualifying Group F, leaving Ireland bottom.
Roberto Martinez’s side have a perfect record so far with three wins from three while Ireland have just a point after three games.
They only have three matches left and need to at least catch second-placed Hungary, who are three points ahead, to qualify for the play-offs.
‘I’m sharing the feelings with the players, it was painful,’ Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson told RTE. ‘After all this work, it was not perfect, but it was a great team performance.
‘We put a lot of energy into this match, defending, mostly, but we knew that we were going to need to defend and we did it quite well for most of the time.
‘When we got tired, when they got on the ball, these players have the quality to find the perfect passes as you saw in the goal. We gave them too much time to run into space and to find the killer pass.
‘We felt of course [we deserved a point] because we spent a lot of energy.
Despite Kelleher’s wild celebrations, ROnaldo had the last laugh with a 1-0 victory
‘They had more chances than we did, but we had our openings and if we were cleverer on the ball, but when you waste energy defending, the decision-making when you get the chance is not perfect.
‘We should be proud, not happy, but there are a lot of good things to take from it. It was a team performance; everyone did their job. There were no passengers in this game.’
Ronaldo is still going strong and will be hoping to add the World Cup to his honours list next year in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
He has been to five different World Cups but only ever made it as far as the semi-finals, and that was all the way back in Germany in 2006.
The Al-Nassr star has racked up an astonishing 964 goals for club and country and, at the rate he is scoring, looks like he can reach the millenium tally he desperately craves.
He has not been far off a goal a game since moving to the Saudi Arabian side and in June he extended his contract until 2027, giving him a decent timespan to find the remaining 34 goals.
References
- ^ Cristiano Ronaldo (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Liverpool (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Ruben Neves (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Diogo Jota (www.dailymail.co.uk)