PIERS MORGAN slammed the BBC for their “pathetic” coverage of Cristiano Ronaldo during Portugal’s win over Croatia.
The 41-year-old legend scored and was named man of the match in their dramatic 2-1 World Cup win.
The Manchester United hero also scored a 60th minute beauty when he plucked a looped ball out of the heavens and lobbed the keeper.
But the sublime effort was rightly ruled offside.
Thankfully for the ex-Real Madrid and Juventus man, Croatia gifted his side a brainless spot-kick five minutes later when Renato Veiga was rugby tackled to the ground by Nikola Vlasic as they waited for a corner.
Ronaldo, to his eternal credit, kissed the ball sweetly before staggering his run and chipping home.
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But after Croatia regained control for the following 15 minutes, Roberto Martinez dared to hook the oldest scorer in World Cup history.
On the BBC coverage, Stephen Warnock said: “Cristiano Ronaldo is not happy. He is not happy at all.
“Take the name out of it, it is the right decision.
“Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t affected the game enough. Yes, he scored the penalty.
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Inside Cristiano Ronaldo’s incredible life
AS arguably the greatest player of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo lives a life befitting such a superstar.
Ron loves a fast motor almost as much as scoring goals with his vast car collection including one costing £9MILLION.
Upon moving to Saudi – Ronaldo moved into a luxury skyscraper hotel before swapping it for an Arabian mansion.
As a globetrotter, Ronaldo likes to travel in style like onboard this luxury private jet.
Behind every great man is a great woman, and Ronaldo has one in partner Georgina Rodriguez.
Georgina opened up on the moment they first met when she was working as a shop girl, saying it was “love at first sight”.
Before meeting Georgina, Ronaldo dated some of the world’s hottest women including Kim Kardashian and Irina Shayk.
Now it’s all about the family, with Ronaldo’s offspring now capable of making up a five-a-side team.
Ronaldo’s very well paid on the pitch, but he makes a ton of money off it too with endorsement deals ranging from KFC to his own range of underpants.
He’s also a prolific investor and owns a string of hotels.
He’s currently building a holiday resort in the Red Sea which has been dubbed “a new paradise”.
Ronaldo gives back too – which is one of the reasons he doesn’t have any tattoos.
He’s highly dedicated, as a look inside his health and fitness regime shows.
That dedication saw him transform from a weedy teen to hulking Adonis.
Head here to read more on Cristiano Ronaldo.
“The link-up play, the pressing, it is not there from him.
“For the good of the team, that is what Roberto Martinez has to think about. You have got to put your ego aside and think of the bigger picture.”
The decision to axe the Saudi-based veteran had been slammed by Piers, who hammered the BBC for their coverage of his performance.
He wrote on X: “The BBC commentators in this Portugal-Croatia game have spent most of the match trashing @Cristiano and saying he should come off.
“Then he has a brilliant goal narrowly disallowed, and scores a superb penalty. And they’re STILL saying he should do more. Pathetic.”
Thankfully for Ronaldo and Portugal, one of Martinez’s other late subs was No9 Goncalo Ramos who headed home on 95minutes.
It was a goal that kept Ronaldo’s international career alive as his sister had previously claimed a Croatia defeat would be his last national match.
Katia Aveiro told Portuguese media outlet Sport TV: “From the information I have, from a reliable source, I believe that this is the last dance, so let’s enjoy it.
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“I believe it’s not today that they’ll say goodbye, but it’s coming soon. I strongly believe this is the farewell.
“So enjoy it a lot because it will be difficult to find someone after 200 goals. I’m talking about the Portuguese national team.”
