Cristiano Ronaldo‘s sister, Katia Aveiro, has launched a defence of her brother, calling critics “sick and ungrateful” after he came under heavy scrutiny following Portugal‘s 1-0 defeat to Spain.
Ronaldo, 37, played 90 minutes on Tuesday as Portugal missed out on a UEFA Nations League final four spot.
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The Manchester United forward had two efforts kept out by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon and also missed another goalscoring opportunity, leading to criticism on social media and in the Portuguese media that he should be benched.
A story in Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias said about Ronaldo: “And, of course, controversy or not, Cristiano Ronaldo also played from the start — the captain was slow and tired [after a certain point] and missed three clear chances to score.”
Aveiro posted a photograph of a crestfallen Ronaldo on the pitch late in the game and wrote on Instagram: “In sport, in football, like in life, ungratefulness is the worst of all vices!”
Aveiro had earlier accused the critics of having a short memory.
