Man Utd legend Cristiano Ronaldo tears into ‘two rats’ after Euro 2024 criticism

Joe Williams
Man Utd legend Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo was criticised by Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer during the Euros.

Man Utd legend Cristiano Ronaldo has hit out at “two rats” who criticised him during Portugal’s disappointing Euro 2024 campaign.

Ronaldo, who currently plays for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, won numerous trophies with Man Utd, Real Madrid and Juventus before choosing to leave Europe in 2023.

He has scored 770 goals in 1027 career appearances and will go down as one of the best players to have ever lived.

And Ronaldo has hit back at criticism of his emotional reaction to missing a penalty for Portugal in their Round of 16 clash against Slovenia at Euro 2024.

The former Real Madrid and Man Utd striker was mocked on social media for crying after Jan Oblak saved his penalty in extra time but Portugal ended up going through to the quarter-finals on spot-kicks.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were frustrated watching Ronaldo’s outburst against Slovenia and criticised the five-time Ballon d’Or winner for getting in the way of Portuguese success.

In quotes about the criticism he faced at Euro 2024, Ronaldo seemed to aim his frustration at Lineker and Shearer and declared that “the world loves me”.

Speaking to former team-mate Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo said: [“They don’t know nothing. It’s much easier to criticise than to appreciate what you really have. We know how the press works, if you speak [positively] nothing sells, you have to speak [negatively].

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“It’s normal. And if you speak about Cristiano, it’s coming on the first page because I’m the most followed guy in the world.

“What am I going to do? Am I going to cry and then finish my career because two rats criticised me? The world loves me! The fans love me! This is my motivation. Nobody is going to take my shine away because two guys from television that nobody knows have criticised me.”

Explaining his emotional reaction to the missed penalty against Slovenia, the former Man Utd striker added: “When you have passion for what you are doing, you can’t be worried about how you’re feeling. For example, I cried the day I missed the penalty… when I cried, it’s not because I felt that if I don’t score Portugal will be eliminated, and the world will collapse on me. It’s not because of that.

“People, they don’t know me. Imagine that the last 27 penalties, you score. Then you miss, and in that period, you feel bad for yourself. The people who come to the stadium, your kids, your mum, your girlfriend, everyone. I feel sad because of that.”

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