CRISTIANO RONALDO’S high-risk substitution was slammed by super-fan Piers Morgan before it even happened.
The 41-year-old Portugal legend was average for most of the match, where his side let underdogs Croatia take the lead.
The Manchester United hero seemed to score a 60th minute screamer when he plucked a looped ball out of the heavens and lobbed the keeper.
But the sublime effort was rightly ruled offside.
Thankfully for the ex-Real Madrid and Juventus man, Croatia gifted his side a brainless spotkick five minutes later when Renato Veiga was rugby tackled to the ground by Nikola Vlasic as they waited for a corner.
Ronaldo, to his eternal credit, kissed the ball sweetly before staggering his run and chipping home.
But after Croatia regained control for the following 15 minutes, Roberto Martinez dared to hook the oldest scorer in World Cup history.
The decision to axe the Saudi-based veteran had been slammed around 20 minutes earlier by Morgan, who hammered the BBC for their coverage of his performance.
He wrote on X at 1:33am GMT: “The BBC commentators in this Portugal-Croatia game have spent most of the match trashing @Cristiano and saying he should come off.
“Then he has a brilliant goal narrowly disallowed, and scores a superb penalty. And they’re STILL saying he should do more. Pathetic.”
Thankfully for Ronaldo and Portugal, one of Martinez’s other late subs was No9 Goncalo Ramos who headed home on 95minutes.
It was a goal that kept Ronaldo’s international career alive as his sister had previously claimed a Croatia defeat would be his last national match.
Katia Aveiro told Portuguese media outlet Sport TV: “From the information I have, from a reliable source, I believe that this is the last dance, so let’s enjoy it.
“I believe it’s not today that they’ll say goodbye, but it’s coming soon. I strongly believe this is the farewell.
“So enjoy it a lot because it will be difficult to find someone after 200 goals. I’m talking about the Portuguese national team.”
On the BBC coverage, Stephen Warnock said: “Cristiano Ronaldo is not happy. He is not happy at all.
“Take the name out of it, it is the right decision.
“Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t affected the game enough. Yes, he scored the penalty.
“The link-up play, the pressing, it is not there from him.
“For the good of the team, that is what Roberto Martinez has to think about. You have got to put your ego aside and think of the bigger picture.”