Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo salvaged a dubious penalty in a 3-2 win against Ghana, converting it into a World Cup record. The superstar doesn’t like to talk much afterwards, the question about his snack in his pants remains unanswered.
There have been more absurd decisions in the Man of the Match voting. But the superstar’s bonus was clearly felt when FIFA announced their decision on who would be named Man of the Match for the Portugal-Ghana game. was chosen.
Ronaldo takes a penalty and converts it
With Portugal beating Ghana 3-2 in their World Cup opener, Ronaldo extracting (some say flayed) a penalty and converting it to make it 1-0, the election was as certain as the sun and blue skies in Qatar. That was fine with the reporters because, in addition to the two coaches, FIFA, as organizer, also requires the “man of the match” to attend the post-match press conference.
“Very, very proud” on the World Cup record
So Ronaldo then sat on the podium on Thursday (November 24th, 2022) in the “Stadion 974” in Doha and answered the question of the Portuguese press spokesman what he had to say about the successful start. Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo said he was happy, and it was to be expected that he would unquestionably talk about his record. “Very, very proud“He hopes to be the first footballer on the planet to score at least one goal in five World Cups.
Addo criticizes referees
His first came in Germany in 2006, in a 2-0 win over Iran. It was a penalty, like now in Doha. Ghana’s coach Otto Addo complained heavily about the decision. The former Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga player would have liked to ask the referee what prompted him to point to the point. But referee Ismail Elfath from the USA was “at a meetingsaid FIFA Addo.
But Ronaldo, at least that was the hope of the journalists, would say something about his descent after contact. However, the first question from a reporter was about his inglorious departure from Manchester United and the termination of his contract.
Rapid exit from Ronaldo
Ronaldo shook his head during the question to reply that the chapter was closed. Then he got up and was not prevented from leaving by a FIFA spokesman. A superstar can do almost anything, even the powerful world association does little.
Ronaldo and the grope in his pants
One of the questions that remained was about a snack in my pants. That sounds strange, and so was the scene in the 37th minute. She couldn’t be seen in the world view, but cameraman Tim Hägele from ARD caught her. Ronaldo reached into his pants, pulled something out, put it in his mouth and chewed on it.
Curious action causes many question marks
“Very strange“said a Portuguese journalist who was shown the video of the scene by Sportschau, “I’ve never seen that before“. The colleague next to him nodded: “No never.”
Portugal’s Rúben Neves was also asked what snack his colleague pulled out of his pants. “That’s totally normal, isn’t it? When we are tired, we need energy.”
However, this answer was later deleted from the minutes of Ronaldo’s record night. The doubts that Neves correctly understood the question asked in English were too great.