Referee's Error Comes Back to Hunt Ronaldo as His Last-Minute Winner for Portugal v Serbia Was Ruled Out

Referee's Error Comes Back to Hunt Ronaldo as His Last-Minute Winner for Portugal v Serbia Was Ruled Out

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:51 PM
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  • Cristiano Ronaldo's disallowed goal would have qualified Portugal for the World Cup ahead of their group rivals Serbia
  • The five-time Ballon d'Or winner scored a last-minute gasp against Serbia in the first leg but was incorrectly spotted in an offside position
  • The 36-year-old and his teammates will now have to wait for the playoffs which is scheduled to hold next year March

Cristiano Ronaldo would have got the automatic ticket for Portugal to the World Cup if his last-minute goal against Serbia in the first leg stood.

Ronaldo's disallowed goal against Serbia in first leg proved costly.
Cristiano Ronaldo's disallowed goal against Serbia proved costly to their chances of getting an automatic ticket. Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic.
Source: UGC

The Selecao were beaten by their group rivals Serbia by 2-1 in the second leg which cost Ronaldo and co an automatic ticket to Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Aleksandar Mitrovic broke Portugal's hearts with a 90th-minute header that gave the Eastern Europeans their ticket to Qatar.

However, in the reverse fixture played in Serbia in March, a similar situation occurred where the Portuguese side were denied a win.

Liverpool striker Diogo Jota had put his team ahead in the 11th minute and 36th, but Serbia came back in the second half scoring two goals from the boots of Mitrovic and Nikola Milenkovic.

As the match headed into injury time Ronaldo beat the offside and scored what seemed to be the winner only to be denied by the referee.

The replay on the VAR showed that the 36-year-old was not guilty of being in an offside position but was ruled out and the final white had been blown.

Out of frustration Ronaldo removed his captain's armband and threw it on the floor before storming into the dressing room.

The result would have been relevant if it had gone in Portugal's way as both sides will be level on points and Fernando Saches'z men would clinch the automatic ticket to the Mundial.

"No excuses"

Despite feeling hard-done-by in March, Ronaldo showed elite mentality once again with his message after defeat to Serbia on Sunday.

“Football has shown us time and again that sometimes it's the winding roads that lead us to the most desired wrecks," The 36-year old shared on Instagram.
"Yesterday's result was tough, but not enough to bring us down. The goal of attending the World Cup 2022 is still very much alive and we know what we have to do to get there. No excuses. Portugal bound for Qatar," he added.
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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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