Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch and threw his armband to the floor after being denied an added-time winner in their World Cup qualifying 2-2 draw against Serbia.
The Juventus forward thought he had scored at the death as although his angled shot was cleared by defender Stefan Mitrovic, television replays appeared to show the ball crossing the line.
However, with no goal-line technology or VAR available in Belgrade his effort was not allowed.
A furious Ronaldo was booked for protesting before marching off down the tunnel at the final whistle and hurling away his captain’s armband in disgust.
“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,” Ronaldo later posted on Instagram.
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“We will keep our heads up and face the next challenge now.”
Liverpool forward Diogo Jota’s double had put the visitors in control at the break, but second-half goals from Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic saw Serbia - who had Nikola Milenkovic sent off in stoppage time - hit back.
PA
