Cristiano Ronaldo's ex-Premier League rival slams Portugal star's 'embarrassing' tears

Dietmar Hamann has branded Cristiano Ronaldo "embarrassing" and claimed "all he thinks about is himself" after the forward cried when he missed a penalty at Euro 2024.

Ronaldo had the chance to seal Portugal's spot in the quarter-finals when they were awarded a penalty in extra-time against Slovakia. However, goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Ronaldo's effort and the 39-year-old was left in tears.

The game ultimately went to a penalty shootout, with Ronaldo stepping up again and scoring his spot kick to help them reach the quarter-finals, with Portugal's goalkeeper Diogo Costa saving all three of Slovakia's penalties.

However, former Liverpool and Manchester City midfielder Hamann, who played against Ronaldo during his first stint at Manchester United, was not impressed by his actions. Appearing as a pundit on Irish broadcaster RTE, Hamann said Ronaldo was "out of order".

"Thirty-nine-year-old plays 120 minutes, he misses a penalty and I've got to say, I bought into all that 'Ronaldo has turned into a team player because he needs the team more than he used to'," Hamann said.

"I bought into that nonsense as well, but I think he showed his true colours again tonight. Missing the penalty, he starts crying on the pitch, he starts crying at half-time in extra-time. And I'm thinking 'it's all about you'.

"There's a squad of 26 players, there's 20 staff, there's 30 or 40,000 fans in there, it's not about you. You try to be neutral, but I was cheering Slovenia on because I though the reaction was embarrassing, I thought it was out of order.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Dietmar Hamann

"I've never seen anything like it, because once you show emotions, once you get emotional, it's the end of it. So that was the point where the manager had to say, 'you've got to come off because you're not in the right frame of mind to carry on playing'.

"Credit to him he took the first penalty and he took it well, it was a very good penalty, but as I said I bought into all that 'Ronaldo's turned into a team player', it's absolute nonsense. All he thinks about is himself.

"He scores the penalty and apologises to the fans, he doesn't need to apologise. He will start the next game but I can't see any other outcome than a France win."

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.