European Championship
Jun 14, 2016 8.00pm
1
1
HT : 1 0
FT Stade Geoffroy Guichard
  • Nani 31' goal
  • goal Birkir Bjarnason 50'
  • yellowcard Birkir Bjarnason 55'
  • yellowcard Alfred Finnbogason 94'

Iceland's Kari Arnason slams "sore loser" Cristiano Ronaldo following outburst

Arnason slams "sore loser" Ronaldo

Iceland defender Kari Arnason has hit back at Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo after the three-time Ballon d'Or winner described his opponents of having a "small mentality".

Ronaldo did not shake hands with any of Iceland's players after Tuesday night's 1-1 draw at Euro 2016 in Saint-Etienne.

Nani opened the scoring for Portugal, but Birkir Bjarnason's second-half goal was enough to give the European Championship debutants a point in Group F.

In his post-match interviews, Ronaldo, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid in May, criticised Iceland's celebrations and claimed that they will not "do anything in the competition".

Arnason has reacted to the comments by describing Ronaldo as a "sore loser" and adding that the attacker will always be inferior to Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

"He's a fantastic footballer but he's not a gracious human being," The Guardian quotes Arnason as saying. "The thing is we almost nicked the win so him saying we weren't going for the win contradicts that. We got a draw and could have nicked it.

"Obviously we're not going to create as much chances as a fantastic team like Portugal but his comments are the reason why Messi is always going to be one step ahead of him. You wouldn't expect Messi to say that. It shows we got under his skin. It was lovely to hear that.

"It makes it even sweeter when he's a sore loser like that. He can say whatever he wants. He didn't really get a chance. He got one and he couldn't put it away. What can I say? Sore loser. Tough shit. What does he expect - for us to play like Barcelona against him? He fannies about and dives around."

Iceland's next game is against Hungary on Saturday, while Portugal will take on Austria on the same day.

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