Red entry: Slovakia goalkeeper speaks out after Ronaldo’s horrific mistake: ‘I prayed’

Last Friday, in the Portuguese’s 1-0 win over Slovakia, Cristiano Ronaldo was noticed for once not for a goal, but for a brutal foul on the opposition goalkeeper. With a lot of luck he escaped the fear.

Even at 38 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo’s thirst for goals is still far from satisfied. A week ago, he scored the 850th goal in his career with Al-Nasr. “850 career goals and counting,” CR7 wrote on Instagram.

Last Friday, the Portuguese star went too far in his desire to score goals in the match against Slovakia. While trying to put the ball into the goal, Ronaldo grabbed the opponent’s goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka, with all his might.

Dubravka literally escaped a black eye, was uninjured and was able to continue playing. The guard has now commented on the scene, saying: “He hit me in the shoulder, neck and chest. When I saw his cleats heading towards me, I looked away. I just closed my eyes and prayed.”

Despite the harsh approach, Dubravka defends Ronaldo. “Such situations arise when the goalkeeper wants to block the shot and also passes the striker into the goal. I don’t blame him for that. This is football.”

While Dubravka is lucky not to have been injured, Ronaldo can consider himself lucky not to have received a red card. However, as he received a third yellow card in the current European Championship qualifiers, he was suspended for the next match against Luxembourg. Bittersweet for the goal-hungry Ronaldo: he was left with nothing but the role of spectator in the shooting festival in which the Portuguese won 9-0.