Cristiano Ronaldo called out for 'shameless' diving in Luxembourg vs Portugal after going down from 'minimal contact'
Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruthlessly slammed by fans for his “shameless” diving in Portugal’s 6-0 demolition of Luxembourg in their Euro 2024 qualifying match.
Portugal kicked off their opening Group J qualifier with a thumping 4-0 win against Liechtenstein last week, with Ronaldo scoring a second half-brace.
Ronaldo, whose Portugal future was in doubt after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, followed up his Liechtenstein performance with a second consecutive brace on Sunday.
The 38-year-old Portuguese forward scored twice in the first half at the Luxembourg Stadium, with Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva also scoring to put Portugal in a commanding 4-0 lead before half-time.
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Otavio and Rafael Leao then added their respective names to the scoresheet late in the second half to seal an emphatic 6-0 victory for Roberto Martinez’s men.
Despite his first-half brace on the night, Ronaldo was blasted by fans on social media after footage emerged of him appearing to dive during the Euro 2024 qualifier.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner could be seen dribbling towards Luxembourg defender Maxime Chanot and effortlessly nutmegged him.
As Chanot closed his legs after being nutmegged, the Luxembourg international’s elbow caught Ronaldo’s arm, with the Portugal captain going down under the soft challenge.
Fans were quick to criticise Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Ronaldo on social media after he went down and called him out for his “shameless” actions.
“38-year-old Ronaldo needed to dive as always to try and get a goal, no shame,” one fan said.
Someone else added: “Ronaldo, [4-0 up] vs Luxembourg and still feels the need to dive and try [to] get a player sent off.”
Another asked: “Why Ronaldo gotta dive like that?”
A fourth wrote: “What pushed him over?”
“LMAO, he [is] so shameless diving against Luxembourg,” a Twitter user posted.
And a sixth tweeted: “Against Luxembourg? Have some shame, man.”
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Euro 2024, Football
Adnan Riaz