Now it’s official: Ronaldo did NOT touch the ball!
AdidaS yesterday rejected Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim to Portugal’s opening goal in their win over Uruguay on Monday, with technology proving that he did not get a touch to Bruno Fernandes’ cross.
it came amid reports in Spain that Portugal’s Fa were planning to submit their own evidence to FiFa demonstrating that the 37-year-old did touch the ball.
FiFa’S technical study group, which includes former arsenal manager arsene Wenger, will make the final call. Ronaldo is one goal away from joining eusebio as his country’s top scorer at World Cups. He ran away in celebration after the ball in from Fernandes passed close to his head, but did not do his usual ‘Siu’ celebration — perhaps an indicator that he knew the truth.
a sensor in the ball showed that Ronaldo missed Fernandes’ cross, which flew into the net at the Lusail Stadium. Like ‘ Snicko’ in cricket,
the sensor detects any contact to help with automated offsides at this World Cup, and it flat-lined as the ball passed Ronaldo.
an adidas statement read: ‘Using the connected ball technology housed in the al Rihla official match ball, we are able to definitively show no contact on the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo.
‘no external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of “heartbeat” in our measurements.
‘The 500Hz iMU sensor inside the ball allows us to be highly accurate in our analysis.’
Reports from Spanish media outlet El Chiringuito yesterday claimed that Portugal would offer ‘evidence’ to show Ronaldo was the correct goalscorer, though Portuguese outlet O Globo poured cold water on that.
Fernando Santos’s team went on to win 2-0 against Uruguay, with Fernandes scoring a penalty in stoppage time as they closed in on winning group H.
Meanwhile, FiFa must also make a judgment on the scorer of Morocco’s first goal against Belgium last Sunday.
abdelhamid Sabiri crossed the ball and Romain Saiss ran across it, appearing to get a touch as the north africans scored their opener in a 2-0 win in group F.
But former Wolves defender Saiss has asked for the goal to be taken off him and given to Sabiri.