Cristiano Ronaldo almost had a night to forget against Georgia rounded off by a nasty collision with a fan.
Portugal slumped to a 2-0 defeat to the European minnows in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday. And Ronaldo struggled to have an impact before being taken off as a substitute.
He had an angry reaction to his exit. Ronaldo’s evening was almost compounded after almost being struck by a supporter who leapt from the stands at the Veltins Arena.
A video on social media showed the fan jumping from the stands feet-first and just narrowly avoiding the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star. A steward managed to get in front of the Portuguese forward.
Ronaldo seemed shocked by the incident but did not sustain any real damage. The near miss just added to the veteran’s frustration.
He failed to get in the scoresheet, meaning he has not managed to score in the group stages of a major international tournament for the first time. Ronaldo was replaced in the 66th minute.
His only contribution during the game was a yellow card for his wild protests after Pedro Neto was denied a penalty. Ronaldo continued his arguments after VAR had cleared the incident.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez claimed that Ronaldo was right to feel aggrieved. He said: "We weren't lucky and then the VAR wasn't consistent, because there's a situation with Cristiano.
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“We're talking about what VAR can do. You can look back and give a penalty. The situation in the 27th minute is even clearer, more of a penalty than the one we suffered.
"It was the worst result. It was a game in which we started badly. Conceding the goal really highlighted what the opponent wanted to do. We always had a good attitude, looking at the goal and trying to score the goal.
"Today Georgia had the key moments, the second goal, all the goalkeeper's energy and performance. We need to congratulate them. And now it's time to look to the round of 16 and have the team better prepared.
"We don't want to lose, but we have all the players. We continued to try to control the game, but when the opponent has an advantage to defend it's different. They have belief and strength. We started and it was another game, it wasn't a game that we needed to win."
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