Ronaldo’s war of words with Heimir
Portugal captain says Hallgrimsson’s ref comments are made to take the pressure off his Ireland side 13 Nov 2025 - Irish Independent AIDAN FITZMAURICE AND DANIEL McDONNELL Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has accused Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson of trying to play mind games ahead of the sides’ World Cup qualifier in Dublin tonight after the Irish boss claimed that Ronaldo would attempt to influence the referee. Hallgrimsson had warned the match officials to stay strong in the face of the influence of Ronaldo in tonight’s tie. The Ireland camp were aggrieved by the prominent role of the Portuguese superstar in Lisbon last month where his side were awarded a controversial penalty that was saved by Caoimhín Kelleher. Criticism There’s also a bit of previous from 2021 when the performance of Slovenian referee Matej Jug in a Ronaldo-inspired 2-1 win drew strong criticism. Hallgrimsson has generally shied away from speaking negatively about match officials, but he acknowledged t...