Portugal boss Roberto Matinez took a swipe at Heimir Hallgrimsson as he defended Cristiano Ronaldo, who saw red in his team's 2-0 World Cup qualifier loss to the Republic of Ireland.
Ronaldo swung an elbow into the body of Dara O'Shea and was dimissed after a VAR check.
At his pre-match press conference, Hallgrimsson suggested Ronaldo had influenced the referee when the countries met in Lisbon back in October.
That clearly irked Ronaldo, who aimed remarks at the Irish head coach as he left the field on Thursday night. Afterwards, Martinez stood by the 40-year-old.
"The key moments went in their favour," he said.
"They scored before we took control and were looking like scoring and they get the second in the 44th minute. They get the energy from the crowd. Hopeful football hurt us too much.
"And then the red card for a captain who has never been sent off in 226 games. That deserves credit. Today was a bit harsh, he cares for the team and he had 60 minutes of being grabbed, pulled and pushed.
"Obviously when he tries to get away from the defender, the action looks worse than it actually is. It's the full body, from where the camera is it looks like an elbow. We accept it because it is a red card. But it is for the right reasons. He cares, he was in the mood of the team and frustrated.
"The only thing that leaves a taste in my mouth is that in the press conference, your coach was talking about the aspect of the referees being influences and than a big centre-half is on the floor, dramatically for Cristiano. We will win the next game for him."
"Everything that could have gone wrong for us, went wrong."
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 13, 2025
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez had his say after watching his side lose 2-0 at Lansdowne Road.
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Martinez did praise the Boys in Green, who were good value for their surprise win.
"You have to credit Ireland," he added. "We knew what they were going to do. A well-organised team who would defend in a low block and not take any risks. We had three new players, lost three important players and we started very slow.
"We wouldn't do what we wanted on the ball and opened up their counter-attacks, simple long balls we couldn’t deal with. We concede from a corner where Ireland do well. So everything we expected from the Irish team happened, it was no surprise."
Meanwhile Ireland defender Liam Scales toasted "a great result and a great performance".
The Celtic man was excellent at left wng-back, but swiftly turned his attentions to Sunday's clash with Hungary in Budapest, where the Irish must win to nab a play-off spot.
"Everything that went into our box seemed to be headed away," he said.
"We didn't give them much. I feel like we had the better chances and it came from being solid defensively. All the lads were brilliant.
"It's in our hands and that's what we wanted at the end of this game. We just need to go (to Hungary) and do our best to win the game. If we were gven this position before kick-off we would have taken it definitely.
"I love playing for Ireland. It's the best. It was an amazing night. The atmosphere was probably the best I've experienced here, so hopefully that continues."
"I said I'd do it on the day and luckily I did!"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 13, 2025
Liam Scales spoke to RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the phenomenal win over Portugal.
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