Cristiano Ronaldo blamed the bus but ghosts and air-con are among the worst excuses heard in sport

Prior to kick off, few would have given Euro 2016 minnows Iceland a chance against Portugal.

The Nordic side, competing in their first ever major competition, are the smallest nation ever to make it to the European Championship finals.

But while some might hail their improbable 1-1 draw as a triumph for the underdog, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo had a different view.

In his post-match interview, the Real Madrid forward blamed his side's failure to win on their opponent's tactical approach, saying, "Iceland didn't try anything, they were just defend, defend, defend and playing on the counter-attack. It was a lucky night for them.

"They scored a goal, they created two chances in the 90 minutes but otherwise they got every player behind the ball. They put the bus in the net."

While no road vehicles actually made it onto the pitch during the game, Ronaldo isn't the only sportsman to use a strange excuse to justify a result, we've picked a few of our favourites from over the years…

BOUNCY BALLS

Kenny Dalglish won the Premier League with Blackburn in 1995, but three years later was struggling to explain how his Newcastle side had only managed a draw against Stevenage in the FA Cup.

The Scotsman eventually opted to apportion the blame to the ball, claiming it was "too bouncy", an excuse which has become renowned as one of the worst in the sport's history.

AIR CONDITIONING

Mervyn King's defeat to Raymond Van Barneveld in the 2003 World Darts Championship, was, the Englishman maintained, due to the air conditioning.

Elaborating on his suggestion, King said "I asked for it to be turned off before I went up there and it wasn't. I asked for it to be turned off at the break - it wasn't. The air conditioning doesn't affect Raymond because he throws a heavier dart and a very flat dart."

Organisers insisted the air conditioning was left off for the duration of the match.

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

In the wake of their 2001 Champions Trophy loss, the Sri-Lanka cricket team held their kit responsible, alleging that it was too tight.

Sanath Jayasuriya said: "We had to add extensions to the trousers and the shirts looked more like tight-fitting women's blouses." 

UNEXPECTED DISTRACTION

Leading 8-4 in the 1997 Masters Snooker final, little, it seemed, could derail 21-year-old Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest to lift the trophy against fellow finalist Steve Davis.

However, an unprecedented occurrence had taken place earlier in the match, in the form of Lianne Crofts, who at the start of the third frame became Snooker's first-ever streaker.

Needing to secure just two more frames to win, O'Sullivan was allegedly distracted by the incident, despite it taking place 10 frames before. He went on to lose the next six and ultimately the match.

"I needed to pull something out, fortunately a member of the crowd pulled something out and Ronnie's…concentration was affected," Davis later said.  

THE PARANORMAL

Perhaps the most bizarre explanation on the list, in 2010 the New York Knicks blamed their defeat to Oklahama City Thunder on ghosts.

Staying at the Skirvin Hilton, Knicks players claimed they had trouble sleeping, as they were convinced the hotel was haunted.

Seven-foot tall centre Eddy Curry said he slept for just two hours on one of the nights of their stay because he couldn't stop thinking about ghosts roaming the hotel.