Cristiano Ronaldo's true character is clear with the referee's reaction to disallowing the goal

A Honduran referee has revealed he had a fiery encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo that ended with an apology from the Portuguese icon.

Said Martinez refereed several matches involving the former Real Madrid star and opened up about a tense moment with the 39-year-old. During a Saudi Pro League match, Martinez disallowed two of Ronaldo's goals and later had a small argument with him.

The referee later revealed he had gotten an apology from Ronaldo after the former Manchester United striker believed he had overstepped the bounds, which speaks volumes about his character. However, despite his praise, the renowned FIFA official also claimed that Ronaldo “complains a lot”.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is very difficult because of his temperament, he is a very competitive person, which makes him feel that there is a lot of injustice towards him, so he complains a lot,” Martinez said. “We denied him two goals, with VAR and everything, but there was a play that upset him because he felt he was fouled in attack, which led to a goal against them. They lost.

“He stood ten meters away from me and said, 'It's always the same for all of you, you always think you're the stars, but we're not bringing you here to be the stars, we're the stars ', in perfect Spanish,” Martinez added. “He started calmly but then got agitated and I just looked at him provocatively to see if he would come closer to me, but he didn't. do.”

Martinez had the courage to reprimand the legendary goalscorer for his alleged inappropriate remarks, but Ronaldo showed his true colors by apologizing and humbly admitting that he had approached the situation wrongly.

“After checking the VAR, I asked him to come closer. Cristiano is Cristiano, and if he doesn't want to come, he won't,” Martinez said. “But he came to where I was and I told him, 'You're a great player, but what you said at halftime wasn't fair. I respect you a lot, but we're here to doing our job just like you are.

“He said, 'Yes, you're right, that wasn't the right way to express myself. I apologize.' Yes, he apologized to me and didn't complain about anything in the second half and even scored a superb free kick.

While most footballers and officials can find themselves on the same pitch with some greats of the game, not everyone can say they have shared the same space with Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. As well as his clash with Ronaldo, Martinez also explained how he had a chat with the World Cup winner after taking charge of one of the Barcelona legend's matches.

The referee lifted the lid on the Argentine's calm temperament while officiating Messi's debut for Inter Miami in July 2023. Martinez claims the former PSG player has a different style to Ronaldo, saying how “calm” he remains and praised his kindness. East.

“He (Messi) doesn't get angry easily. When he complains about something, he is usually calm. I saw Messi's most humble gesture that day,” Martinez said.

“The whole stadium was chanting his name and he came and shook hands with four Honduran referees. The stadium was chanting 'Messi Messi Messi Messi' and he went to shake our hands and congratulated us and patted us on the back and said what. a good match and what a good job. This kind of thing is worth more than anything else.