Cristiano Ronaldo and Piers Morgan branded ‘embarrassing’ after Ireland incident

Robin Bairner

• 21 Nov 2025 14:11 GMT
• 3 min read

News

Cristiano Ronaldo has been branded ‘embarrassing’ by Dara O’Shea for his antics in Portugal’s World Cup qualifying loss to Ireland – and Piers Morgan has not escaped criticism either.

Ronaldo was dismissed for elbowing the Ipswich Town defender during the Dublin clash, in which Roberto Martinez’s side succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Boys in Green.

It was a victory that proved the catalyst to Ireland reaching the World Cup play-offs, while it also saw the Real Madrid and Manchester United legend banned for the subsequent clash against Armenia – a fixture Portugal scored nine in.

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While Ronaldo waits for the verdict on his suspension from FIFA, which could ban him for at least one World Cup game following his violent conduct, O’Shea has reflected on the fallout to the incident.

In particular, the 26-year-old has drawn criticism on social platforms, with Morgan whipping up sentiment against him by telling his eight million followers on X: “It seems Dara O’Shea has form for deliberately provoking Ronaldo in World Cup Qualifiers, then diving like an Olympic swimmer to try to get him sent off.”

O'Shea breaks silence on Ronaldo incident

Now O’Shea has broken his silence on the matter and appears distinctly unimpressed with everyone involved.

“I think it’s a bit embarrassing really, all that – both from Piers and a bit from Ronaldo too, but that’s football. The game is the game,” O’Shea told the East Anglian Daily Times.

“His reaction when going off... It wouldn’t be me doing that, but that’s him. He’s very passionate about his country and obviously himself. I get that.

“He’s been at the highest level as long as he has, so he’s going to be frustrated. I think we frustrated them all night and that's probably where it all stemmed from.

“Thankfully, the referee viewed it from a neutral point of view.

“I’ve seen that people are trying to make me out to be the bad person. I’ve been getting all sorts of comments from Ronaldo fans, which is a bit weird.

“But I think when you throw an elbow like that it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to get sent off. I don't know what Piers and Ronaldo have got going on. I think we’ll leave that one there.”

Ronaldo has been in the US as a guest of Donald Trump this week, while O’Shea is plotting a path to the World Cup next summer with Ireland, who have Czechia first up in a playoff, with Denmark or North Macedonia waiting in a potential final.