On Friday night, Cristiano Ronaldo was competing for Portugal in a Euro 2024 qualifying match when he got into an altercation with Martin Dubravka, a former Manchester United and Slovakia goalie.
During Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifying match against Slovakia, Cristiano Ronaldo was fortunate to escape a straight red card after catching Martin Dubravka with his studs.
During the second half of the game, Ronaldo dived for a loose ball and unintentionally struck Dubravka in the face. The seasoned striker protested his innocence and apologized to Dubrvaka before the referee issued him a yellow card.
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Ronaldo indicated that his foot had slid up from Dubravka’s chest to his face, and the video assistant did review the incident for a potential red, but Ronaldo avoided further punishment. At Manchester United last season, Ronaldo and Dubravka were teammates for a limited period of time, but on Friday night, there was no love lost between the two.
At the time of the incident in the 61st minute of the match in Bratislava, Portugal had a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by Bruno Fernandes. The United captain gave the visitors the lead in the 43rd minute with a tight-angle shot into the bottom corner.
At the age of 38, Ronaldo was taking part in his 201st game for Portugal. After a disagreement with manager Erik ten Hag, the 38-year-old striker’s contract was mutually terminated, and he left United in December.
Later, he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, helping to launch a wave of high-profile transfers to the nation in the Middle East.
Dubravka, meanwhile, lost his starting spot for the Magpies to Nick Pope, and he transferred to United from Newcastle in September 2022. Following Dean Henderson’s loan transfer to Nottingham Forest, the Slovakian international was brought in as David de Gea’s backup.
He only played twice, both times in the Carabao Cup, before moving back to Newcastle in January. Later, he admitted that the barrage of hatred he encountered after joining United drove him to delete his Twitter account.
“Some (of the messages) were very harsh. Some of them were very offensive, to my family and myself,” he said.
“I was thinking: Do I deserve this, after five years being here, trying to do my best for the club. But that’s football. Not everyone can love you. That’s not this world.
“Twitter? The abuse there. I didn’t expect that. But there was the other side of the fans who appreciated the time I’ve spent here, and they showed me love even when I came back.”
