Cristiano Ronaldo showed his class by comforting Croatia midfielder Petar Sucic after Portugal's dramatic 2-1 victory in the World Cup last-32 match in Toronto. Sucic, in tears on the pitch, revealed the encouraging words Ronaldo shared with him following the controversial defeat.
Ronaldo's comforting words to Sucic
"Honestly, I was very shaken," Sucic said. "But he [Ronaldo] told me that this is football, that there will be difficult moments in football, but that I am great, to keep going and that things will get better in the future."
The match ended in chaos when Croatia's Josko Gvardiol had a 103rd-minute equaliser disallowed after VAR intervention. Connected Ball Technology in the official match ball detected that Igor Matanovic touched the ball, making Mario Pasalic offside in the build-up.
Controversial VAR decision sparks anger
The decision left Croatia's players and fans furious, with bottles thrown onto the pitch. FIFA explained that sensors in the adidas Trionda ball determined contact by Matanovic, displayed as a 'heartbeat graphic' to viewers. However, Sucic remained unconvinced.
"The referee said that Matanovic played with the ball, that the sensor in the ball showed that. I don't know what to say, it's hard to explain," Sucic said. "In my opinion, Matanović didn't touch the ball, and it was a regular goal."
Matanovic later admitted: "Honestly, I think I felt a slight contact with my hair."
Croatia's heartbreak and Dalic's criticism
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic criticised the officiating, saying: "I will not comment much about it but I will say the refereeing was very bad. VAR kills emotions, it kills everything within you. We have gone too far with VAR."
Goncalo Ramos headed a stoppage-time winner for Portugal, cancelling out Ivan Perisic's opener. Ronaldo scored his first World Cup knockout goal in the contest, which saw four efforts ruled out for offside before Ramos struck four minutes into stoppage time.
Portugal advanced to a last-16 tie against Spain on Monday.
