'King of the forest', 'technical expert' and Ronaldo tantrum: How the Portuguese media reacted to Hampden draw

Prior to the Nations League clash, videos of the 39-year-old footballing icon firing himself down a flume at Loch Lomond’s Cameron House hotel had dominated social media, but come full-time in Glasgow, the Al-Nassr star was forced to switch his five-star luxury hotel for the comfort of John Souttar’s back pocket.

With Portugal’s star studded starting XI underwhelming on the night, many of the travelling Portuguese media were left scratching their heads in search of answers as to what went wrong for Roberto Martinez’s team on a cold night in the southside of Glasgow.

The Scotland team were deservedly praised by the 49k Tartan Army crowd after their battling display, but were also applauded by the Portuguese media in the aftermath of the clash, who commended their strong defensive display at Hampden.

We look at how the Portuguese media reacted to the game:

Leading Portuguese football website abola.pt praised the hosts ‘very defensive’ but ‘high-calibre’ display in the 0-0 draw, writing: “Scotland planted a forest of legs in their penalty area,” they wrote, adding that “Rangers player John Souttar king of the forest” as he “preventing the well-positioned Portuguese players from shooting at Gordon's goal. He kept an eye on Cristiano Ronaldo and did not give the Portuguese star any space, who showed signs of disagreement, dropping to more defensive areas to get the ball.

“[Billy] Gilmour and [Kenny] McLean played in midfield and closed the door very well, having no problems getting into defence to limit the greater technical power of the Portuguese team,” they added, while also criticising the Portugal’s teams “lack of imagination and collective creativity.”

Of Ronaldo’s theatre-esque tantrum, abola.pt said he was “very alone up front,” adding he had “no chance of passing the ball or progressing with the ball under control, he only caught the eye with shots from outside the area. His bicycle kick that, if better placed and with less risk for a Scotsman's head, would have resulted in a great goal. He had scored in three games and failed to score in the fourth, but had little chance of doing so.”

Former Sporting Lisbon midfielder Ryan Gauld may have only played the final 22 minutes of the clash, but was also singled out for praise by abola.pt, who called him a ‘well-known technical expert’. Tom Kundert of PortuGOAL also praised the Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder, saying he gave the ‘performance of the night’ after speaking ‘perfect Portuguese in the post-match RTP interview’.

Gauld, who picked up his fourth Scotland cap when he replaced Ryan Christie in the 68th minute told the visiting media, in fluent Portuguese: “I miss Portugal. I miss everything. I always said I really enjoyed being there, and it's always good to go back when I can."