Portugal star midfielder Bruno Fernandes has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo knows that he made a mistake against Ireland which led him to receive a red card.
Bruno Fernandes reacts on Cristiano Ronaldo's red card vs Ireland
Interacting with the media ahead of the key FIFA World Cup qualifier against Armenia, Fernandes was questioned regarding Ronaldo's absence from the game. According to Bruno, the red card did not change the result of the game against Ireland, as they were already behind, and said (via The Nassr Zone):
“A red card is something normal in football. It was a moment where Cris reacted in a way that cost him dearly. He knows it wasn’t something he wanted to do, but it happened, and he knows he made a mistake. He won’t be able to help us tomorrow, but that doesn’t change the fact that even before the red card, we were already behind in the score. Obviously, that made things more difficult because we were only playing with ten men, and we didn’t have a player capable of scoring at any moment.”
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez reflects on Cristiano Ronaldo situation
On the other hand, national team manager Roberto Martinez said that the red card was unfortunate, saying that VAR did not check all angles before making a decision and said:
"Of course, we did. I think it's difficult for a player like Cristiano, who is in the box. And today he had two defenders always with physical contact. There is no violence. He tries to remove the defender and it was unlucky that the VAR consideration... The angle of the images [makes it seem] worse than what happened. It's Ronaldo's first red card in the national team, it's incredible."
Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the first game of the upcoming FIFA World Cup if they finish first in the group to qualify for the tournament. If they finish second, he will miss the first leg of the play-off.
Cristiano Ronaldo admits 2026 FIFA World Cup will be his final tournament with the national team
Cristiano Ronaldo interacted with the media regarding the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He noted that his age as the main reason for his decision and said:
"Definitely, yes. I will be 41 years old and I think [this] will be the moment in the big competition. Let's be honest, when I mean soon, it's probably one or two years I'll still be at the game."
Cristiano Ronaldo has not revealed when he will be retiring from the sport, and has two years left on his contract at Al-Nassr.