INCREDIBLE SULK
Whinger Ronaldo is written off as sore loser by raging Icemen
LATE in the night at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy- Guichard on Tuesday and the footballers of Iceland were still in fighting form. By the time they reached the interview areas, they had already been made aware of the words of Cristiano Ronaldo, who had passed that way 20 minutes earlier.
Iceland, fresh from their 1-1 draw with Portugal in Group F, were a small- time nation with no chance of making any headway in Euro 2016, according to the former World Footballer of the Year.
‘Well it makes it even sweeter when he’s a sore loser like that,’ said Iceland central defender Kari Arnason.
‘I mean, he can say whatever he wants. He didn’t really get a chance, he got one and he couldn’t put it away. What can I say? Sore loser. Tough s***.’
Arnason was as blunt as he sounded and perhaps he had good reason.
It is hard to dislike Ronaldo but on Tuesday he did himself few favours. His football was modest and his behaviour even less impressive.
By the time the game reached its death throes, the 31-yearold was thrashing free-kicks into the defensive wall from unrealistic distances and generally exhibiting the tell- tale signs of a frustrated footballer.
Full-time, meanwhile, prompted only one handshake with an opponent and a complaint — heaven knows what about — to the referee Cuneyt Cakir.
‘I thought they’d won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end, it was unbelievable,’ said Ronaldo about Iceland.
‘When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition.
‘They scored a goal, they created two chances in the 90 minutes and otherwise they got every player behind the ball, they put the bus in the net.
‘We just try our best, keep the ball all the time and Iceland didn’t try anything, they were just playing on the counter-attack. It was a lucky night for them. We should have three points but we are OK.’
To the neutral, the Iceland story is a great one.
The first time the tiny nation with a population similar to that of Leicester have qualified for a tournament, their supporters aped Iceland’s players in terms of commitment, presence and enthusiasm on Tuesday.
On the field, the minnows just about deserved their point and will now approach games with Austria and Hungary with plenty of belief.
For Arnason, it was a particularly sweet night, given that the Malmo defender was in his club’s defence the night Ronaldo scored four of Real Madrid’s eight goals in a Champions League mauling last December. He added: ‘Ronaldo is a fantastic footballer but he’s not a gracious human being. The thing is, we almost nicked it at the end so him saying we weren’t going for a win contradicts that.
‘His comments are the reason why Lionel Messi is always going to be one step ahead of him.
‘It shows we got under his skin so it was lovely to hear what he said.
‘That night against Madrid with Malmo was embarrassing. It was a terrible game. But we didn’t have the strongest team at the Bernabeu, it doesn’t compare to what we have here. This is better organisation, much better players and when it’s like that it’s a bit easier.
‘But that night was horrendous. It was a poorly set-up game and we gave it to them on a silver platter. We didn’t even make it hard for them.
‘Today he didn’t really touch the ball but we got a good result.
‘Me and Ragnar (Sigurdsson) don’t let many chances in and with the goalkeeper we have here ( Hannes Halldorsson) we always trust he’s going to mop up what’s left. We are taking it one game at a time as always.
‘We are an underdog going into every game and it suits us perfectly. We’ve got a solid team, a team that’s willing to work for each other. The work ethic in this team and the camaraderie and friendship is incredible. I can promise you that no other team in the tournament has that.’
There are not many names in the Iceland team immediately recognisable outside of their own country — but former Bolton and Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen was among the substitutes at the age of 37.
He said: ‘Drawing, for us, has been marvellous. We don’t concentrate on other teams. Our performance was one of pride, character and, above all, hard work.
‘I don’t really care what Ronaldo has to say. He said we were lucky, but you always need luck.
‘Luck doesn’t fall from the sky, you have to earn it.’