Portuguese international Bruno Fernandes said on Saturday that Cristiano Ronaldo knows "he made a mistake" in Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Ireland, when he was sent off, meaning he will miss Sunday's crucial match against Armenia to secure direct qualification for the World Cup 2026.

“The heat of the moment, the heat of the game, the frustration of not getting a positive result, is another thing that happens in football, a moment in which Cris (Cristiano Ronaldo) had a reaction that cost him dearly, obviously something he knows he didn't want to do, but it ended up happening,” Fernandes said at a press conference.

“He knows he made a mistake,” he continued, “and unfortunately, he won't be able to help us tomorrow.”

Portugal will play a key match tomorrow, Sunday, in which they must beat Armenia, already eliminated, in the sixth match of Group F (leaders with 10 points) in front of their home fans.

Ronaldo, who has the possibility of playing in his sixth World Cup (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026), received a straight red card after the VAR review VAR ruled out a foul on him for an incident inside the penalty area where he elbowed a defender in the back, meaning he will miss Sunday's game. Defensive errors proved costly for Roberto Martinez's team against Armenia, and Rodrigues admitted: “It didn't go as we wanted (…) We created few chances because we had few players in the final third. I think our build-up play was always too deep and a bit slow for Ireland's defense; we should have been a bit more strategic in our ball movement.” “What we have to do tomorrow is win the game, because this team is used to winning and has to keep it that way,” the Manchester United player stated. He added: “Obviously, we've already faced Armenia; they're a team with a lot of speed up front, with very high-quality players in midfield, a very aggressive team. We know the difficulties they can cause us.”He said the team will try to impose its style of play and make its strengths "the strongest point of the match" because the team's inconsistent performance in recent games "doesn't change the fact that we want to win the World Cup," Fernandes concluded.

This news has been tken from authentic news syndicates and agencies and only the wordings has been changed keeping the menaing intact. We have not done personal research yet and do not guarantee the complete genuinity and request you to verify from other sources too.