Liam Brady believes Cristiano Ronaldo 'could easily have been sent off' against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night.
Manchester United's new signing appeared to strike Dara O'Shea after Portugal were awarded an early penalty in the World Cup qualifier.
Gavin Bazunu, Ireland's 19-year-old goalkeeper, denied Ronaldo from the spot after the referee eventually gave the spot kick after watching the replay of Jeff Hendrick's challenge on Bruno Fernandes a number of times.
But as Ronaldo stood waiting to take the penalty he appeared to raise his hand to defender O'Shea.
Speaking at half-time on RTE Two's coverage of the game, Brady claimed Ronaldo could have been shown a red card over the incident.
"He definitely strikes O'Shea," Brady said.
"If the referee sees it or if VAR tells him to have a look at it, he could very easily have been sent off. But he is Ronaldo and I suppose there's an element of 'is he too big to send off?'"
Ireland took the lead in Faro through a John Egan goal towards the end of the first half, but two late goals from Ronaldo broke Irish hearts as the 36-year-old broke Iran's Ali Daei record in the all-time men's international leading goal-scorer's list.
Speaking after the game, Brady said: "What a shame for the Irish team. They very nearly pulled off a result that would have kept us going in the World Cup."
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