We usually speak about Cristiano Ronaldo's great performances on the pitch and his large number of records, but this time, the Portuguese footballer made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Portugal's captain was frustrated for the entire game by Iran's defense, and even when he had the chance to score, he missed a penalty that was awarded to his national team after VAR review. Later in the evening, CR7 escaped a red card, as he threw an elbow to Karim El Ahmadi's face.
Paraguayan ref Enrique Cáceres was summoned to watch the replay, and after a minute, he decided to hand CR7 a yellow card.
Have a look at this defining moment of the FIFA World Cup (Image might be geo-restricted).
Should Ronaldo have received a red card here or did the ref make the right call? #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/YSGDQvJJBB
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 25, 2018
Here's what experts and fans around the world had to say about this call. Most of them agreed that Cristiano got away with that!
VAR sees Cristiano elbowing an Iranian player, referee gives him a yellow. What a joke…
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) June 25, 2018
how has Cristiano avoided red there? he elbowed that dude in the face!! how is one man getting so lucky with decisions???!
— Muhammad Butt (@muhammadbutt) June 25, 2018
"Not even with VAR refs have the nerve to send Cristiano off."
Los árbitros ni con el VAR se atreven a expulsar a Cristiano. pic.twitter.com/wYxc01UqPN
— Zona_Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) June 25, 2018
That's a red or nothing imo. Yellow is silly. #cristiano
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) June 25, 2018