Cristiano Ronaldo has been branded a ‘fool’ by former Liverpool player Didi Hamann after Portugal’s 4-2 defeat against Germany in Munich.
After losing against France, Germany were staring down the barrel of an ignominious early exit when Ronaldo put his country ahead in the 15th minute, starting and finishing a quick counter attack which began with the player heading a corner out of his own penalty area.
Moments later, the Juventus star produced a sublime piece of skill, flicking the ball up with his instep and over Antonio Rudiger, before backheeling it without looking.
Hamann, however, was not impressed, claiming the 36-year-old’s self-indulgence was counter productive and would have spurred on Joachim Low’s, who cane back into the contest and eventually ran out 4-2 winners.
‘I think it’s nonsense,’ he told RTE. ‘He flicks the ball over, pretends he is going to catch it and backheels it across, and looks away… of course it is [amazing] and we know he can do that… I think, in a way he’s belittling the opposition.
‘This is at 1-0 and I’m sitting here while you all rave about it. Yes, he is the best, with Messi… He looks a fool now. This is 1-0. He does look the fool.
‘If you ask the German players, they’ll tell you now what they thought of it. They would have noticed that.
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‘I tell you now, all of them will say it may have given us an extra bit of whatever to change things. ‘What is he trying to achieve? Maybe this [Germany comeback] is where it all started.’
