Ronaldo slams ‘potato field’

– Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo (above) slammed Luxembourg’s pitch as a “potato field” and also said he had not been fully fit in recent matches after the European champions won 2-0 on Sunday to qualify for Euro 2020.

Ronaldo scored his 99th Portugal goal late in the game, having notched a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Lithuania three days earlier, but it was far from a vintage performance on a pitch full of divots at the Josy Barthel stadium.

“It’s difficult to play on these pitches – it was a potato field, I don’t know how teams of our level are supposed to play on these pitches,” he said.

“It wasn’t a good spectacle but we did our job... I’m looking forward to my fifth European Championship.”

The 34-year-old had joined up with the Portugal squad amid speculation over his fitness and attitude following his angry reaction to being substituted during Juventus’ 1-0 win over AC Milan the previous Sunday.

Juve coach Maurizio Sarri then said that Ronaldo had been struggling with a knee problem for some time.

“In the last three weeks, I have been playing with limitations,” Ronaldo said outside Portugal’s dressing-room door on Sunday. “But there was no controversy – you (the media) created that.

“I tried to help Juventus. Nobody likes to be substituted but I understood because I wasn’t in such good shape,” he added.

Ronaldo said he was also “not 100%” in the two Portugal matches.

“I sacrificed myself for the team,” he said. “We could have missed out (on Euro 2020). Thankfully, I haven’t been injured much in my career but it can happen.”

“It’s a pain that prevents me from being 100%, but I always try to play. They created a big controversy where it didn’t need to exist. I’ll be back to 100% soon.”

Portugal finished second in Group B with 17 points, three ahead of Serbia who drew 2-2 with Ukraine and advanced to Euro 2020. – AFP

Luxembourg