After the Ireland defeat, the Portugal boss piled the blame on everyone but his captain
23:07, 13 Nov 2025Updated 00:00, 14 Nov 2025
Dara O’Shea and Nathan Collins look on as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the pitch after his red card(Image: INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez appeared on Thursday night to put the blame for Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card on Heimir Hallgrímsson and Dara O’Shea.
Ronaldo was sent off – after a VAR check – after he lashed out at the Ireland centre-half.
He was the third opposing player in three Aviva Stadium World Cup qualifiers to be shown red – after Hungary and Armenia both finished their visits with 10 men.
Afterwards, Martinez defended his captain and pointed to remarks made by Hallgrímsson in his pre-match press conference, when he accused the Portugal star of “controlling the referee” in Lisbon.
And he was critical too of O’Shea, saying: “The red card is from a captain who has never been sent off in 226 games, I think it was a bit harsh.
“He cares about the team, it’s 58 minutes of being grabbed and pushed in the box, I think the action looks worse than it is, I think it is [a turn of] Ronaldo’s full body, rather than an elbow.
“It was a red card for the right reasons, as he cares, he was frustrated.
“What is disappointing is your coach was talking in the press conference about the aspect of the referee being influenced, then a big centre-back falls on the floor, dramatically.”
Ronaldo’s red card all but ended Portugal’s hopes of a comeback. They were 2-0 down at that stage, thanks to a Troy Parrott brace.
Hallgrímsson, in his pre-match remarks, said that Ronaldo “was not only controlling the referee, he was controlling the whole stadium, so all the fans supported his actions, and the referee just kind of played along.”
And when the Ireland manager’s comments were put to him, on the eve of the game, Ronaldo replied: “I think he tried to make pressure to the referee because, for sure, he’s a smart guy, he knows where they can push.
“I’ve been in the game so many years and I know how the coach thinks and how they try to make pressure or take away the pressure from their players.”
Meanwhile, Martinez added that Ireland’s performance made it difficult for his side.
“You have to credit Ireland. We knew what they were going to do. A well-organised team who would defend in a low block and not take any risks. We had three new players, lost three important players and we started very slow,” he said.
“We wouldn’t do what we wanted on the ball and opened up their counter-attacks, simple long balls we couldn’t deal with.
“We concede from a corner where Ireland do well. So everything we expected from the Irish team happened, it was no surprise. The key moments went in their favour, they scored before we took control and were looking like scoring and they get the second in the 44th minute.
“They get the energy from the crowd. Hopeful football hurt us too much.”