Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by minnows Iceland last night in Euro 2016.
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Iceland defender Kari Arnason has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese international’s derogatory comments on Tuesday.
Ronaldo accused Iceland of having a “small mentality” on Tuesday as they prevented the Real Madrid ace from becoming the first man to score in four European championship finals on their debut at a major global tournament. We’re frustrated, they didn’t try and play. “They scored a goal, they created two chances in the 90 minutes and otherwise they got every player behind the ball and they put the bus in the net”.
Hreidarsson, however, criticised Ronaldo and questioned his work rate on the night, as the 31-year-old delivered an ineffective performance in Saint-Etienne. Then they celebrate like they have won the Euros.
Iceland take on Hungary in their next Group F game on Saturday.
“Iceland only tried to defend”, complained Ronaldo. “The thing is we nearly nicked the win so him saying we weren’t going for the win contradicts that”.
Iceland, appearing in their first major tournament, boast a population of just 330,000 and are the smallest nation to play at a European Championship finals.
But former Iceland global Hermann Hreidarsson called Ronaldo “petty” and a “sore loser”.
‘I mean, he can say whatever he wants. It’s good defending and taking the chances we get. So what can I say? “We are 100 per cent confident we will win our next one”.
The Malmo defender said: “He’s just a sore loser”.
“We are a small island in the Atlantic Ocean and we got a draw against them”.
“It’s a bit frustrating for us but it’s just the beginning for us, we’re not anxious about that”. ‘But as the coach said, any of the 23 players in the team can start and I feel useful to the team.
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“Obviously we were the underdog, we played like the underdog and we were unlucky not to win the game”. “We showed a lot of pride in our defending”. Both teams are attacking and free flowing so I think we should be expecting a great contest.
