‘Moment of silliness’: Ronaldo madness in grim career-first as bitter star mocks fans

Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said Cristiano Ronaldo was wrong to blame him for the red card he suffered as Portugal fell to a World Cup qualifying defeat on Friday (AEDT).

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner exchanged words with Hallgrimsson after being sent off during Portugal’s 2-0 defeat in Dublin.

Ronaldo said before the game the Ireland coach had tried to put pressure on the referee by telling the officials not to be influenced by the superstar striker.

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With his team trailing by two goals in the second half, the 40-year-old was frustrated and elbowed Dara O’Shea in the back as the Ireland player marked him in the box.

“He complimented me with putting pressure on the referee but listen, it had nothing to do with me, it was his action on the pitch that cost him a red card,” Hallgrimsson told reporters.

“It had nothing to do with me unless I got into his head.” He added: “This was just a moment of a little silliness for him I would say.”

Ronaldo could potentially miss the start of the World Cup if Portugal qualify, depending on how long his ban is.

After his first red card while playing for his country Ronaldo will not be available for Monday’s match against Armenia, where Portugal aims to seal passage to next summer’s tournament.

“It’s difficult for a player like Cristiano to be in the penalty area,” said Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.

“He had constant contact with the defenders, who were grabbing him. There was no violence — he tried to push them away.”

ENGLAND CRUISE AGAINST SERBIA WITH BELLINGHAM REDUCED TO CAMEO ROLE

Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze maintained England’s flawless record on the road to the World Cup, but Jude Bellingham was reduced to a cameo role in Friday’s 2-0 win against Serbia.

Saka struck in the first half at Wembley before his Arsenal team-mate Eze netted in the closing stages to ensure England, who had already qualified for the World Cup, made it seven successive Group K victories without conceding a goal.

After scoring 13 times in their previous three matches, this was a more prosaic England display, with Thomas Tuchel’s decision to leave Bellingham out of his starting line-up capturing most of the attention.

Tuchel opted to select Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers instead of Bellingham before sending on the Real Madrid star with 26 minutes left.

Bellingham had missed England’s previous four matches, with a shoulder injury sidelining him in September before Tuchel left him out in October.

Rogers excelled in the number 10 role while deputising for Bellingham during England’s wins over Wales and Latvia in October.

And Tuchel this week warned Bellingham that he would have to fight for his place in the starting line-up at the World Cup.

There have been reports that Bellingham has sometimes been a polarising figure among the England squad and Tuchel was forced to apologise to the 22-year-old earlier this season after revealing his mother found the fiery star’s on-pitch behaviour “repulsive”.

After England travel to Albania for their last qualifier on Sunday, Tuchel has only two friendlies remaining in March before he has to name his World Cup squad.

The German’s handling of Bellingham will likely be the main topic from now until the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.

“Morgan deserved to stay on the pitch because he had three fantastic performances with him, and second of all we didn’t know if our plan was right with the high press,” Tuchel said.

“It would be unfair for Jude to try figure everything out because we changed our way of pressing in the last two camps.

“Once we see the formation we can give clear instructions to Phil and Jude and bring them from the bench.

“The game got a little too open. It is good if everything is not as easy, so we had to wait very long until the decisive goal.”

England’s 5-0 win in Serbia in September was the first sign that Tuchel was starting to stamp his mark on the team after a slow start to his reign.