The five-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to deliver on that promise. He cut a frustrated figure as Portugal conceded twice before half-time. He was then given his marching orders just after the hour mark.
Hallgrimsson told RTE Sport of that incident: “He lost his focus a little bit, again maybe the fans helped a little bit in that. He was frustrated and reacted in a way that he knows he shouldn’t. He said to me walking away, he told me (Hallgrimsson’s pre-match remarks were) a clever thing to do and he blamed the referee or whomever, but it was his silly decision to attack our player.”
Hallgrimsson went on to say of his touchline exchange with Ronaldo as the all-time great made his way off the field: “He complimented me for putting pressure on the referee. It was his action on the pitch that cost him the red card. It had nothing to do with me – unless I got into his head.”
Asked if he had spoken to Ronaldo after the game, Ireland’s head coach added: “No, I think we spoke enough when he came off. There was nothing to speak about. This was just a moment of a little silliness from him, I would say.”