Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka revealed that he prayed that Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t catch him in the face during their clash against Portugal in Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier. The pair were teammates at Manchester United in the first half of last season.
Ronaldo caught Dubravka with a late challenge in the match. The incident was followed by a VAR check and Ronaldo avoided being sent off for the incident as he only received a yellow card.
When asked by reporters after the game where Ronaldo had caught him, the Newcastle United goalkeeper said, “In the shoulder, the neck and the chest. I just closed my eyes and prayed that he [Ronaldo] wouldn’t hit me in the face as well. When I saw his studs coming at me, I didn’t even look.”
Cristiano Ronaldo nearly caught his former Manchester United team-mate Martin Dubravka in the face 😳 pic.twitter.com/ucr49imEdl
— GOAL (@goal) September 11, 2023
Although Dubravka mentioned that he doesn’t blame Ronaldo for the incident, stating that such situations are part of the game. He said, “These are situations when the goalkeeper closes his eyes and tries only to block the shot, and he, as a striker, has to go after such a ball. I don’t blame him. It’s sport, it’s football. Situations like this belong to it. Of course, he realized he hit me. He asked me if I was OK. I take it sportingly.”
Although, as mentioned above, CR7 didn’t receive any suspension for the tackle against the goalkeeper, he did receive a yellow card. This resulted in the Al-Nassr star getting suspended from Portugal’s game against Luxembourg after he received three yellow cards. The team, however, won the match by an emphatic 9-0.
Bruno Fernandez sends message to Martin Dubravka following the Ronaldo incident
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has reportedly said that it was “good to see” former Manchester United teammate Martin Dubravka. The pair faced off on international duty earlier this week when Portugal won a narrow 1-0 against Slovakia.
According to reports, after the match, the Slovakian shot-stopper posted two pictures with the Manchester United captain and Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo on his social media. The post was accompanied by a caption, that said, “Nice to see good old friends”.
Fernandes undoubtedly enjoyed the night as he was the one who scored the winning goal from Bernardo Silva‘s assist. The Man United captain then shared Dubravka’s post with a message, saying, “Always good to see you mate”.
Portugal and Slovakia are currently in the top two places in Group J. Slovakia has 13 points from their opening six matches. After the back-to-back wins against Slovakia and Luxembourg, Roberto Martinez’s side now has 18 points from six matches.