At 3 a.m. on July 6, in the quarterfinal of the European Championship, Portugal faced France. Ahead of the match, the UK’s Mirror newspaper exclusively interviewed British psychologist Mike McVeigh, a former striker for Norwich and Tottenham who had faced Cristiano Ronaldo multiple times during his 14-year career as a footballer, and is now a professional psychologist.
McVeigh began by discussing Ronaldo’s missed penalty in extra time from the previous game, saying, “At the end of the day, he’s human, he makes mistakes too. Despite being exceptional, he knows what he’s doing. Ronaldo possesses talent, experience, and outstanding athletic ability.”
“Ronaldo’s tears were a natural expression of his emotions, which contrasts with the stereotype of footballers trying to be great, brave, and strong, not easily showing their feelings. So, I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.”
Regarding his future performance, McVeigh added, “Putting such a consistently excellent player in a team full of outstanding players, he will inevitably score. I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores a hat-trick in the next match (against France), given the massive threat he poses to opponents.”