Payet disagrees with Ronaldo’s mum over tackle

Dimitri Payet has defended the challenge which ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s Euro 2016, but the Portuguese’s mother was not happy.

Payet and Ronaldo clashed after just eight minutes of the final showpiece in France on Sunday, with the Portugal forward in clear pain after the tackle.

The 31-year-old attempted to play on, but was stretchered off in tears in the first half.

Portugal recovered from the blow of losing their talisman, captain and joint-top goalscorer to lift a major international trophy for the first time in their history.

After the game, Payet defended the tackle that left Ronaldo in tears.

“It was a challenge, that’s all, period,” the West Ham midfielder said. “I regained the possession and if I hurt him it was not intentional.

“It’s not in my nature to be a bad guy on the pitch. There is no question about it.”

Ronaldo’s mother, Dolores, disagreed with Payet’s defence, posting on Twitter: “I cannot see my son in this way. The game is about kicking the ball, not hurting the opponent.”

On the devastating extra-time defeat in front of their home fans, with Swansea reject Eder scoring the winning goal, Payet added: “We’re disappointed.

“We were under the impression we were the ones with the possession and the better chances but we missed that goal that could unblock the situation. On the very few chances they got, they were able to score.

“A goal decided all. A goal that we couldn’t score ourselves. The Portuguese side were more efficient.

“I think that if we could have scored we could have forced them to play more offensively and we could have counter-attacked. At the end that goal is cruel.

“We didn’t score for a lot of reasons. We were able to score two goals against Germany while they got the possession. It is kind of the same game but the other way around.”

football365.com