“He’s just wounded” - Ex-Manchester United star Wes Brown explains why Cristiano Ronaldo was annoyed after substitution in Georgia loss

Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown recently explained that Cristiano Ronaldo was merely annoyed with himself for being unable to score, as the Portuguese skipper came off in their clash with Georgia.

The Selecao succumbed to a shock 0-2 loss in their final group fixture against the Euro debutants, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze scoring apiece for the Crusaders in a historic victory.

Thankfully for Roberto Martinez's side, their progression to last-16 was already confirmed, with Portugal emerging as Group F winners. The win just saw Georgia qualify for the knockouts and will play against Spain in the next round.

Ronaldo was one of the few starters who retained his place in the XI on Wednesday, as Martinez rung in the changes. He was widely expected to bag his first goal or two of the championship, but instead endured a terrible outing, before going off in the second half.

The 39-year-old was visibly annoyed and seen throwing a hissy fit. But Brown, his former teammate at United, has now come to his defense, saying he's only furious at his inability to score that day.

Speaking on the podcast Euro Thrash, he said:

"That's normal. He's come off, he wants to score. I've said this in previous ones. His attitude's so good. People might think he's snapping at other people but he's not.

"He's just wounded he's not scored before he's come off. He probably knew he was coming off after a certain amount of time by the way, and he'll just be disappointed he's not contributed or got an assist or a goal."

Ronaldo's only major contribution at the Euro 2024 so far has been an assist for Bruno Fernandes in their 3-0 win over Turkey on matchday two. This was also the first time that he failed to score in the group stages of a major international tournament.

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Portugal face Slovenia in the last-16 of Euro 2024

Portugal continue their quest for a second European championship against Slovenia in the round of 16 on Monday. The Selecao are favorites on paper, but when the sides met back in March for a friendly, the result was not quite what fans expected.

The Dragons pulled off a 2-0 victory in Ljubljana, courtesy of goals from Gnezda Čerin and Timi Max Elšnik. While it was shocking enough, a similar result at the Euros would make for one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.

Roberto Martinez is expected to play his strongest XI, with Ronaldo once again likely to lead the line despite his lack of goals at the Euros. The winner of the tie is set to face one of France and Belgium in the quarter-finals.