Cristiano Ronaldo has launched an angry tirade against the critics who mocked him for bursting into tears during Portugal’s last-16 clash against Slovenia this summer.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was brought to tears shortly after he saw Jan Oblak save his extra-time penalty before he was able to regain his composure and score in the resulting shootout as Portugal progressed into the quarter-finals in Germany.
But it was Ronaldo’s tears that were the biggest post-match talking point, with a host of pundits, including the likes of Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer on the Rest is Football podcast, plus former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamaan, who labelled the incident 'embarrassing.'
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They were among the pundits to question Ronaldo’s ego and ability to be a team player, but in a fired-up exchange with his former Old Trafford team-mate Rio Ferdinand on the UR Cristiano YouTube channel, the 39-year-old has moved to dismiss this criticism.
"They don't know nothing," he insisted. "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]. 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."
Ronaldo was also asked by Ferdinand to explain why he burst into tears on the pitch in Germany.
"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."
Ronaldo netted the 900th goal of his career last week when he netted in Portugal's 2-1 Nations League victory over Croatia.
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