Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson noted Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence on referees after Portugal’s 1-0 victory Ireland in Lisbon last month.
Hallgrímsson said as much during a press conference earlier in the week ahead of Ireland’s 2-0 victory at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.
“In Portugal, he was not only controlling the referee, he was controlling the whole stadium, so all the fans supported his actions and the referee just kind of played along,” Hallgrímsson said on Wednesday.
“I hope it will be the vice-verse now we are in the Aviva, but obviously a player shouldn’t be refereeing, it should be the officials doing the refereeing.”
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Ronaldo’s insistence that Caoimhín Kelleher was time-wasting with his kick-outs last month contributed to the Brentford goalkeeper being shown a yellow card.
Ronaldo clearly pays attention to the media narrative, the Portugal captain going straight for Hallgrímsson after being sent off for elbowing Dara O’Shea in the 59th minute at the Aviva.
Before leaving the field, Ronaldo also directed a crybaby gesture at O’Shea.
What did CR7 say?
“He complimented me for putting pressure on the referee,” said Hallgrímsson. “Listen, it had nothing to do with me. It was his action on the pitch. Nothing to do with me, unless I got into his head.”
Any exchange of views after the game?
“No, I think we spoke enough when he came off. Nothing to speak about. Just a moment of silliness from him, I would say.”
Remarkably, three players have been shown straight reds at the Aviva in Ireland’s three World Cup qualifiers – Hungary’s Rolland Sallai, Armenia’s Tigran Barseghyan and now Ronaldo.
“I don’t have an explanation for it, maybe it is the fans,” Hallgrímsson suggested. “They make an incredible atmosphere, it probably gets to the opponents. There are not many places with an atmosphere like here.
“Maybe it shakes them. Long may that continue.”
On the availability of Evan Ferguson for the final Group F fixture against Hungary on Sunday, Hallgrímsson said a decision will be made by Roma’s medical staff on Friday.
“Evan trained yesterday and he should have trained today, so we’ll know more tomorrow where he is in his fitness. He is not going to be 100 per cent. If he is close, we just don’t know.”
