Portugal forward Rafael Leão has said he “never intended to hurt” Ivan Román despite punching the Chile defender in the face during Saturday’s World Cup warmup friendly.
In the 44th minute of the encounter in Lisbon, Leão stepped in to defend teammate João Cancelo, who was being shoved by Román.
Leão and Román then grabbed each other by the neck before the AC Milan star threw a punch at the Chile defender, who fell to the ground.
Both players were shown straight red cards.
“Regarding my sending off, I simply wanted to protect my teammate, never intending to hurt the opponent!” Leão, 26, wrote on Instagram.
Bruno Fernandes praised Leão’s act of solidarity with Cancelo.
“Obviously, we don’t want players to be sent off, but I’d like to highlight the team’s solidarity and the way the lads stood up for each other,” the Manchester United star said.
“Leão realised that Cancelo was being closed down there; he was the first to get there and was unlucky that, amidst the shoving, the Chilean player ended up falling. But it’s important to be there for one another. I’ll take the positive from it, because the mutual support between us will be important for us at the World Cup.”
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Portugal won the game, 2-1, but coach Roberto Martinez was disappointed with Leão’s sending off.
“We’re all very determined and he reacted in a situation that is bound to happen a lot at the World Cup,” he said. “Clearly it’s a good example that we can’t give in to frustration or see a red card in that situation.”
Leão will miss Portugal’s last warmup friendly against Nigeria on Wednesday through suspension but he will be available for his national team’s World Cup opener against DR Congo on June 17.
