Iceland defender: 'Ronaldo is a sore loser'

Kari Arnason responded to the star on the other side of the battle line, after Ronaldo called Iceland a team that 'plays with a petty mentality'.

Birkir Bjarnason's equaliser helped Iceland draw 1-1 with Portugal after Nani's opener. Arnason was the hero as he and Ragnar Sigurdsson closely marked Ronaldo, leaving the opposition's number one star out of the picture for the entire match.

Arnason (white shirt, right) was an important factor in helping Iceland contain Ronaldo yesterday. Photo: AFP.

"He's just a sore loser. He doesn't want to lose the game. What does he expect? That we play him like Barcelona? He's a nuisance and just diving," Arnason criticized.

Ronaldo had previously criticised Iceland for being as happy as if they had just won the Euros after drawing with his team, and said the Nordic side were "only striving for small things". The Real Madrid star claimed that was the reason Iceland would "not achieve anything" in France this summer.

"Of course we were the underdogs. We played with that position and unfortunately we didn't win the game," Arnason replied.

The 1982-born midfielder revealed that his coach Lars Lagerback did not provide a single piece of information about Ronaldo.

"We didn't care about him. Of course, everyone knows how good Ronaldo is, so you have to know where he is at all times, but we didn't have a plan for him. We just knew to press him at all times and that was enough," he said.

Arnason (right) confirmed that coach Lars Lagerback did not have a separate plan to neutralize Ronaldo. Photo: Dn.se.

Iceland entered a major tournament for the first time with a squad made up mostly of unknown players. Earning a point in their opening game against the strongest team in the group was an encouraging achievement for them.

"It was fantastic. We knew we could do it. I think we were unlucky not to win with Finnbogason's chance late on. The second half went the way we wanted. Of course, Iceland didn't have much of the ball, but we were solid and always had someone on the counter-attack. Not many teams want to play against our strikers on a day when they are in such good form," Arnason said enthusiastically.

According to VNE