Referee who Denied Ronaldo Crucial Goal Against Serbia Finally Reveals Why He Cancelled it
- Portugal boss Fernando Santos says the referee that denied Ronaldo winning goal has apologised
- The Dutchman looked the other way after the 36-year-old scored a 90+4 minutes goal against Serbia
- Portugal and Serbia eventually shared the spoils at the end of the meeting
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Dutch referee Danny Makkelie has apologised for overruling Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the 90+4 minutes during Portugal's World Cup qualifier against Serbia at the Stadion Rajko Mitic.
Liverpool star Diogo Jota scored two first-half goals for the visitors but his efforts were cancelled out by Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic's strikes in the second half.
Moments before the final whistle, Ronaldo scored the winner but the goal was ruled out as the referee claim the goal-line technology and the VAR were not deployed.
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Meanwhile, the decision got the 36-year-old angry and slammed his national team's armband on the floor while heading straight into the dressing room.
Source: Getty Images
However, the 38-year-old has now realised his blunders and has tendered an apology for his errors, according to Portugal manager Fernando Santos, who told RTP and reported by SunSport.
"We scored a goal that was not given when the ball went in. In a match of this level, that isn't possible.
"The referee apologised to me in the booth and told me he was embarrassed. I was in the dressing room with him and apologised to me.
"He had told me on the pitch that he was going to see the images and that if it was the case he was calling me to apologise - and so it was.
"I told him on the pitch that there was no VAR or goal-line technology - one of the things he told me was that the goal line was important - but I told him that the ball was half a metre inside the goal.
"There was no obstacle between the goalkeeper and the goal line. [It is a] problem because we drew. We have to rethink.
"The referees are human and make mistakes, but that's why there is the VAR and the goal-line technology to avoid this."
After the game, Ronaldo shared a picture of the Portuguese team while celebrating Jota's goal on Instagram and insisted that he will never disrespect the national team's armband.
The Juventus attacker added that they will dwell on that setback but focus on the games ahead with their next game coming against Luxembourg on Tuesday, March 30.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Cristiano Ronaldo might have traded winning the Italian League title for the golden boot this campaign.
The 36-year-old currently has 23 league goals - four better than Inter Milan attacker Romelu Lukaku while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's tally stands at 15 so far.
Meanwhile, the Old Lady are 10 points inferior to the Nerazzurri who are at the summit of the table with about 11 matches to the end of this campaign.
Source: Legit.ng
