Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo was caught throwing the captain’s armband to the ground following his team’s Euro 2020 exit. Occurring the similar incident in a recent World Cup qualifier, he was slammed by local media.
A 1-0 defeat to Belgium meant that holders Portugal crashed out of Euro 2020 at the last 16 stages in Seville. Save for a free-kick that tested Thibaut Courtois in the first half and a decent attempts at an assist that Diogo Jota squandered in the second, he was ineffective and could not surpass Ali Daei’s all-time international goal-scoring record.
As Thorgan Hazard blasted a swerving shot past Rui Patricio in the only successful strike of the evening, the Belgians advanced to a quarter-final date with Italy in Munich on Friday.
Yet Portugal did have their chances overall. There were 23 of them in total, a tournament record for the most shots in a Euro 2020 without return.
At full-time, Ronaldo, 36, who may never feature in the competition again due to his advancing years, could not contain his emotions and threw the captain’s armband to the ground in disgust and disappointment.
It is happening the second time in recent months that Ronaldo carried out the act after having a goal disallowed against Serbia ina World Cup qualifier, football fans reacted to the incident online.