Cristiano Ronaldo’s not given ‘goal’ on Saturday night isn’t the first time that the Portugal forward has been denied an international goal due to a lack of goal line technology.
Everyone could see on Saturday that Ronaldo had indeed scored what would have been the winning goal against Serbia, in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier.
However the referee and his assistant clearly didn’t think the whole ball had gone over the line and, with no goal line technology or VAR available in the qualification tournament, Ronaldo and his team were denied.
The five time Ballon d’Or was understandably left fuming, throwing his captain’s armband to the ground, and his annoyance might have been in part down to deja vu.
Back in 2006, playing in a Euro 2008 qualifier, Ronaldo looked to have scored what would have been one of his best international goals, but again a lack of technology screwed him.
The Juventus forward flicked the ball up for himself for a bicycle kick against Azerbaijan but once again the officials failed to spot it going over the line.
At least in that game Portugal earned all three points and Ronaldo actually got on the scoresheet twice, as they won 3-0.
The 36-year-old scored the opener and the third in the game, with Ricardo Carvalho scoring in between for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team, to secure all three points.
Saturday’s non allowed goal was all the more frustrating for the team, having been two goals ahead, Portugal were held to a 2-2 draw, suffering a knock to their World Cup qualification hopes.
As well as his country’s hopes, the moment further knocks backs Ronaldo’s attempts to become the highest goal scorer in men’s international football.
He is currently seven goals behind Ali Daei’s incredible tally of 109 and should really be two closer, with at least six games left before the end of the summer.
The former Real Madrid striker has now failed to score in his previous four international goals and will hope to put that right against Luxembourg on Tuesday.
Of course Ronaldo might also be a bit closer to the record if it wasn’t for Nani famously stopping him.
