Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid star reveals he was crying in the dressing room at Euro 2016 final
The Portuguese striker hobbled out of the final just a quarter of the way through the match and now he's spoken about his agony for the first time
CRISTIANO RONALDO admits he was holed up in the dressing room crying when he was forced to limp out of the Euro 2016 final through injury.
Speaking about the emotional occasion for the first time, the Real Madrid superstar feared for his career because he thought he had snapped his knee ligament completely.
"I thought [Dimitri Payet’s tackle] was just a hit. But when I started running my knee swelled and I realised that I couldn’t go on," Ronaldo told .
"I returned to the dressing room hoping to get a quick diagnosis from the team doctor, but I was wrong. I was crying because I feared it even more serious.
"I thought I had snapped my ligament completely, but the doctor calmed me down and I began watching it on TV, I was jumping around in the dressing room but couldn’t stand it so went to the bench.
"The truth is that I crossed the line, in the best sense of the word, encouraging my teammates as if I were the coach. I knew it was useful, because they respected me."
Portugal stunned the home nation France 1-0 to claim the silverware - the Real Madrid superstar's first major international trophy with his country.
During the summer break the 31-year old bumped into French international Antoine Griezmann, who has been forced to watch Ronaldo lift both the Champions League (2014) and Euro 2016 trophies.
“It’s funny because shortly after the final, while I was on vacation in Miami, I met Antoine Griezmann in a restaurant where he was dining with his fiancee," Ronaldo said.
“He came over to my table and said with a sly smile: ‘Cristiano, I hate you!'”
According to the three-time Ballon d'Or winner, Didier Deschamps' men were too confident ahead of the final and Portugal were eager to capitalise on being the underdogs to the home nation.
“I was convinced that calmness was the key to everything. We knew we had a big advantage in that we were not the favourites."
He added: “When we started warming up on the pitch, I felt the French looked a bit too relaxed. They were smiling a lot. You have the right to smile before a game but they all seemed very happy.
“The French thought they would win easily – at least that’s the impression we got.”