Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a red card as Portugal were beaten 2-0 by Ireland in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday evening, with Piers Morgan quick to have his say
Piers Morgan has made his position crystal clear regarding who he supported after Cristiano Ronaldo’s dismissal during Ireland’s 2-0 victory over Portugal at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.
Morgan has developed a close bond with Ronaldo through several interviews conducted in recent years, notably including an explosive conversation when the 40 year old departed Manchester United in late 2022.
Their most recent sit-down took place just seven days ago, with Morgan expressing his dissatisfaction with Dara O’Shea’s conduct leading up to the Portuguese skipper’s red card.
He also referenced a previous clash between O’Shea and Ronaldo in 2021 when the two nations faced each other, suggesting the latter might have been fortunate to avoid being shown a red card on that occasion.
Morgan posted on X: “Well well well.. it seems Dara O’Shea has form for deliberately provoking Ronaldo in World Cup.”, reports the Irish Mirror.
“Qualifiers, then diving like an Olympic swimmer to try to get him sent off. Here’s what he did to @cristiano when Ireland played Portugal in 2021..”
The footage displayed the 2021 confrontation between the duo where Ronaldo responded to O’Shea kicking the ball away following Portugal being awarded a spot-kick in a World Cup 2022 qualifying match.
Morgan also shared: “Ridiculous that Ronaldo was sent off for resisting someone pulling his shirt back,” and posted footage of Lionel Messi involved in a physical altercation whilst representing Inter Miami, where “nothing was done.”
Troy Parrott’s two first-half goals secured a stunning victory for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team on Thursday, keeping their World Cup qualification hopes alive ahead of Sunday’s decisive group fixture against Hungary.
Both managers shared their views on the red card which could rule Ronaldo out of the World Cup’s opening match should Portugal qualify as group winners.
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez said: “I think it’s difficult for a player like Cristiano, who’s in the box. And today he had two defenders constantly in physical contact.
“There’s no violence. He tries to push the defender away, and he was unlucky that the VAR… the angle of the images [makes it look] worse than what happened. It’s Ronaldo’s first red card for the national team, it’s incredible.”
Discussing Hallgrímsson and O’Shea, he added: “What is disappointing is your coach was talking in the press conference about the aspect of the referee being influenced, then a big centre-back falls on the floor, dramatically.”
Hallgrímsson responded after the match that Ronaldo was responsible for his own dismissal: “He complimented me for putting pressure on the referee. It was his action on the pitch that cost him the red card. It had nothing to do with me – unless I got into his head.”
Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the latest sports news, headlines and top stories
#Piers #Morgan #blasts #Ireland #star #Olympic #diver #Cristiano #Ronaldo #red #card
