Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo opened up on the incident which took place during the match against Serbia, saying that there are difficult times when "we feel that an entire nation is being harmed."
During the World Cup qualifier on Sunday, Ronaldo threw his captain's armband on the floor and stormed off the pitch before the final whistle after being denied a goal in the final moments of the game. However, in an Instagram post, the Juventus striker insisted that captaining Portugal is "one of the greatest pride and privileges of my life."
"Being captain of the Portugal team is one of the greatest pride and privileges of my life. I always give and will give everything for my country, that will never change. But there are difficult times to deal with, especially when we feel that an entire nation is being harmed. Lift your head and face the next challenge now! Come on, Portugal," Ronaldo wrote.
In the match, Diogo Jota scored twice in the first half, putting Portugal 2-0 ahead in the game. However, in the second half, Serbia managed to level the scores with the help of goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic.
In the dying minutes of the match, Ronaldo saw his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the line. While his strike was deemed to have not crossed the line, the television replays showed that the ball had clearly crossed the line.
Ronaldo remonstrated with the linesman before he was shown a yellow card. The striker then walked off the pitch and threw his captain's armband on the floor.
With Ronaldo's goal being ignored, the match between Portugal and Serbia ended in a 2-2 draw.
( With inputs from ANI )
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